


Someone I Have Never Been (And I Have Been Everyone)

by Isis_McGee



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (not between main couple), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Clubbing, Drug Use, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Non-Explicit Sex, Organized Crime, Recreational Drug Use, crime daughter!Ruby, lifestyles of the rich and the (in)famous, party girl!Anna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:28:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4771742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis_McGee/pseuds/Isis_McGee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna Milton is a socialite party girl who just wants to experience everything, despite the fact that her parents have a plan for her to uphold the family image. Ruby Morgenstern is the perfect daughter who wants to help her father's business ventures on both the legitimate and illegal sides of the law. The two of them have never been close, but when Anna gets in trouble and Ruby sees the opportunity to knock the Miltons down a few pegs, she takes it. However, Ruby never expected her feelings to morph into something else entirely. </p>
<p>A SPN Femslash Minibang for 2015 involving truth or dare, crime families, and skydiving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Monica for beta'ing for me! If you see mistakes in ch. 5 or the epilogue, blame me not her.

 

The pungent smell of sweat and sex and weed wafted through the club. Lights of every color flashed and bass thumped and Anna was in the middle of the dancefloor, a smile on her lips and her hair plastered to her face and neck. She paused mid-dance to gulp from herdrink; it was still cold and Anna found herself powerless to stop drinking until she had drained the plastic cup. She felt drunk enough to let it drop to floor, unable to hear the crackling of it being stepped on over the music

“Hey, do you want another one?” the woman across from Anna shouted, still barely audible. Anna couldn’t remember her name, but they were having fun together; Anna could spare a few more drinks on her tab for her. _Starla- that was her name,_ Anna recalled as she saw her lean over the bar and show off the trio of stars tattooed on her lower back. Starla wasn’t gone even a minute before there was a man standing in front of Anna where she had been.

He was cute, the colored lights flashed against his light hair, dappling him in a neon rainbow. His teeth sparkled in a smile and Anna couldn’t stop herself from grinning back and wrapping her hands around his shoulders, pulling him into a dance before he could even ask. She pressed close to him in the crowd, able to feel the strength of his chest and the slight give of his stomach. His lips were at her ear and she was fairly certain that what he was saying was his name, but she couldn’t hear him. When he pulled back, Anna moved her hands from his shoulders to his face and reached up to plant a kiss on him; the way their hips had been moving together and the way his hands were clutching at her waist goaded her into it and she only stopped plunging her tongue into his mouth and tasting whiskey and cigarettes when she heard Starla call her name. He looked dazed.

“Sorry, gotta go,” she shrugged and danced her way towards Starla, closer to the bar. Starla held out her drink.

“Who was that?”

Anna shrugged and gulped from her cup. “No idea.” If Starla was surprised by that, she didn’t show it. She laughed and took Anna’s free hand and the two of them were back to dancing, lost in their own world 

The beat had barely changed into something more staccato with a high-hat in it when Starla decided the two of them needed to take shots. Anna grinned back at her for the suggestion and they pushed their way to the bar. Anna waved a hand over the bar as Starla leaned forward to show off her cleavage; she couldn’t be sure which one caught the bartender’s attention but he had a smile for the both of them. Anna didn’t trust the smile at all.

“Two Purple Nurples!” Starla had to half-shout to be heard over the music. The bartender started to nod.

“Make it six, and put it on my tab,” a voice to Anna’s left said. The two women turned. It was the same man that Anna had been making out with briefly on the dance floor and now that she had a better look at him, she was pleased. He was more than cute. Starla seemed to think so too, if the way she grabbed at Anna’s wrist was any indication. Anna didn’t get a chance to say anything before he was addressing her. “You ran off before I even got your name.”

With a nudge from Starla, Anna told him. She immediately turned and continued “and this is Starla.”

“Hi,” Starla said with a predatory grin.

“I’m Dean, if you missed it before,” he responded. He looked completely unfazed by the leer Starla was giving him. “Hope you don’t mind the drinks.”

“Not at all,” Starla practically purred. Anna felt her hand running up and down her arm. She almost wanted to switch spots with Starla; the touch was more than likely meant to entice Dean. Anna wasn’t exactly immune to it.

When the bartender poured their shots, they were a murky purple, and he didn’t look pleased to have Anna and Starla talking to some hunk of a guy who had nearly half a foot on him in height. Anna saw him glare when Dean wasn’t looking.

He raised a shot glass to the two of them and they followed suit. Anna almost spluttered her shot all over Dean when she saw the face he made. He caught her eye.

“We like them,” Anna shrugged. Dean made another exaggerated face and Anna and Starla both laughed.

Starla plucked Dean’s second shot out of his hands and nestled it in her cleavage with a giggle and a grin. “Maybe you’ll like it more now.” She brought a hand up to the back of Dean’s head and had to exert little effort to get him to bend and wrap his lips around the glass. One of his hands had come up to Anna’s waist when he’d stepped forward and the other was on Starla’s.

Dean straightened up, took the glass out of his mouth and threw a wink at the bartender, who was staring. He turned back to Starla.

“Still a shitty drink.”

Anna rolled her eyes and Starla laughed and the two of them brought their remaining shots up to clink glasses. Dean’s one hand had traveled back to Starla and the other had never left Anna.

“So,” he started, “what do you two ladies do?”

“Well, right now we mostly dance,” Anna answered, tucking her hand into Dean’s and tugging him toward the dance floor. Starla cottoned on to the idea quickly and took his other hand to help pull him.

“Besides,” Starla said with a grin, “does it matter what else we do?”

Whatever protest Dean might have wanted to give was lost in the way the two women started to tangle around him. Anna felt drunk and happy and Dean’s hands felt good on her. So did Starla’s. It didn’t take long before Anna knew that all three of them were thinking the same thing. She turned in the circle of Dean’s arms, her fingers finding Starla’s belt loops behind him and pulling her flush against Dean’s back.

“Tell me you live around here.”

Anna felt one of Starla’s hands working its way to Dean’s crotch.

“Close enough, yeah,” Dean nodded.

“Then let’s get out of here.”

Dean wrapped his arms around both of them and he lead them off the dance floor and to his car.

“You good to drive?” Starla asked, the fact that it was a formality obvious.

“It’s not even a mile. Yeah, I’m good.”

“I’m sitting in the back so I don’t distract you,” Anna said, failing to keep a straight face. She and Starla fell together laughing.

“Me too!”

Dean smiled at their antics and opened up one of the back doors for them. They were still laughing as they crawled in. Starla threw a leg up onto Anna’s lap and faced her as Dean was getting in the front seat.

“You’re really pretty,” Starla told Anna.

“So are you!”

“Oh my god, thanks! Do you wanna make out back here?”

Anna laughed and nodded and threaded her hands through Starla’s hair to kiss her. It was sloppy and Starla’s lip gloss was sticky and Anna’s hair was sweaty from dancing, but they didn’t want to stop. By the time Dean had pulled into a parking spot and was opening their door up for them, Starla had crawled onto Anna’s lap.

“Ladies, we might be a little more comfortable upstairs. All three of us can be included then,” Dean told them when they pulled apart to look over at him. The glimpse of his teeth that his smirk showed cut through the dark of his shadow. Anna and Starla tumbled out of the back seat, surging towards Dean to follow him and Anna knew that even if she didn’t remember the night, she was going to have fun.

***

The room was spinning when Anna woke up, naked and too hot. She was alone and it took her five minutes of laying on her back staring at the ceiling to have a vague recollection of what had happened the night before. The fact that her clothing littered the room and the first thing she saw when she looked for a clock on the bedside table was a couple of condom wrappers helped remind her. She winced as she sat up; her head was pounding and her legs were sore. She glared at the heels she’d worn the night before‒ the heels she’d have to wear home.

It took her what felt like forever, but she managed to stand up and get her pants on. She eyed the open closet door and caught a peek of plaid. Hesitating, she snuck a hand in and pulled out the first shirt she could find. Her shoes were in her hand and her borrowed shirt sleeves were rolled up as she made her way down the stairs, where she could hear people moving about.

Dean was in the kitchen, a pan of bacon popping on the stove, and there was a tall, floppy haired man who looked vaguely familiar hunched over a book at the table. Dean turned and the man looked up at the creaking of Anna stepping onto the last stair. Dean’s eyes brightened a little, and Anna gave him a small smile. A look of recognition flitted across the other man’s face.

“I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed a shirt,” Anna told Dean as she walked into the kitchen. “I don’t exactly feel like going home in a backless satin top, you know?”

“’S alright. It looks good on you,” Dean told her. He flipped the strips of bacon before continuing. “Your, uh, friend took off early this morning.”

Anna shrugged, “Not really my friend. I only met her last night.”

Dean tried to hide his surprise quickly, but the man at the table snorted a laugh into his book. Anna’s cheeks colored pink before she cleared her throat a little.  Dean had taken the bacon from the frying pan and let some of the grease soak off before Anna spoke up.

“Would you mind giving me a ride back to the club? I left my car there.”

“Let me grab my shirt for work and I’ll drop you there, sure. Feel free to eat, if you want,” Dean told her with a jerk of his chin. Anna smiled and took a piece of bacon to nibble on as Dean wiped his hands on his jeans and headed upstairs. Anna tried not to crunch too loudly in the silence between her and the man at the table.

“You were in my civil law class, weren’t you?” he asked after a moment. Anna’s eyebrows shot up. She’d known he was familiar, but she could barely remember that class. “Anna, right? Judge Milton’s daughter?”

“Wow, um, yeah,” she said. “I mean, when I went to that class. But yeah, I’m Anna Milton.”

“Sam Winchester. Dean’s brother.”

Anna nodded as though she’d caught Dean’s last name. The name did sound familiar for more than just the class though. When she remembered why, Anna blurted out, “Were you one of the kids who sold Addy in that class?”

Sam blushed, two spots of red high on his cheeks. “No, I never sold. I sort of hung with those guys though.” Anna could hear what he wasn’t saying.

“Not so much anymore?”

Sam shook his head with a small smile. He could hear what Anna wasn’t asking. “A lot of them are gone. Ruby’s the only one still around, I think.”

“Ruby Morgenstern?”

Sam nodded at the question. Anna was spared from having to come up with something else to say by Dean’s reappearance. He wore a dark blue denim shirt with a patch bearing his name over his heart.

“Make dinner when you get home from your last class, huh?” Dean said to Sam. “We’re supposed to get those Chevelle parts today so I’ll be home late.”

Sam nodded again before he gave Anna a small smile. She smiled back and followed Dean’s lead as he headed out the door.

The walk down to where Dean had parked the car last night felt interminable to Anna. Her head was pounding and she felt ridiculous in a flannel shirt and stilettos. She managed a quiet ‘thanks’ when Dean opened her door for her and she leaned her head back as soon as she sat down. She winced at the sound of Dean slamming his door.  He turned the radio down and Anna murmured thanks again. They didn’t talk during the ride; Anna nearly fell into blissful sleep. She didn’t solely because of the light touch on her arm.

“Sorry, but we’re here. The Beamer over there yours?”

Anna murmured an affirmative sound and Dean steered the car in that direction to pull next to it.

“Thank you, for the ride,” Anna told him. He smiled and she leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek. “And for the shirt. I’ll try to get it back to you.”

“I’d appreciate it. No hurry or anything,” Dean shrugged. Anna was opening the door and he went on. “Get home safe, alright?”

He didn’t hear her response through the closed door and with one last smile, he drove away. Anna took the first moment she had alone to slump over her car and lean her forehead on the cool metal of the roof. She stuck her hand in her pocket for the first time all morning and hoped that her keys were still there. She could feel her phone and she knew she’d have to come back for her card once the bar opened later; she couldn’t ask her roommate to go get her spare keys from her parents‒ not again so soon. She breathed a sigh of relief against her car when her fingers hit metal and she recognized the shape of the teeth.

Sliding into her driver’s seat and turning the key, Anna paused. Her stomach turned at the movement and she flung her door back open, leaning out. Nothing. She closed the door again and leaned her head against the steering wheel. She breathed heavily and slipped her sunglasses onto her face. She drove, knowing that she could find coffee before she got back to her apartment, as long as she hadn’t brought her emergency car cash‒ the twenty she kept in her glove box‒ into the bar the night before. Rooting around at the bottom of the compartment, she found what remained of that money: six dollars and thirty-eight cents. Anna grinned.

***

“I almost thought you were in class,” Charlie said when Anna trudged into the apartment carrying a giant cup of coffee. “I see I was not correct.”

Anna didn’t respond; instead she passed Charlie to flop onto the couch.

“Rough night? Also, is that your shirt? It looks more like one of mine.”

“Good night. Rough morning,” Anna told her around the lid of her coffee mug. “It’s the guy’s shirt.”

“Oh, so it was a guy night?”

“It was a both night,” Anna said. Despite their differences, in almost everything, Anna and Charlie could always talk about girls. “I remember it being fun. She wasn’t there when I woke up. He was pretty nice this morning, really.”

“Well, I guess that’s something.” Charlie turned back to her laptop on the kitchen table. “Are you going to class today?”

“I dropped my one Thursday class two weeks ago, Charlie.”

Anna saw Charlie nod out of the corner of her eye. The clacking of Charlie’s fingers against her keyboard was the only sound in the room as Anna drained the rest of her coffee. Her hands would start to shake soon if she didn’t get anything else in her system, but she felt a bit less like she was going to die. A bit. 

“Do you have anything left over from your broken arm last semester? My head is killing me.”

“If you do the dishes this week and promise to go to at least most of your classes next week, I’ll tell you where the bottle’s at in my room,” Charlie responded without missing a beat.

“It’s not that I don’t like class, you know that. There’s always just better things to do.”

“Yeah, and it has nothing to do with pissing off your parents,” Charlie drawled out.

Anna shrugged. “Not that much to do with it,” she said, a smirk creeping onto her lips. Charlie looked unamused. “I’ll do the dishes all week, and I’ll buy toilet paper an extra time, and I’ll go to my classes next week.”

Charlie nodded, satisfied. She turned back to her computer, typing again, leaving Anna waiting. She didn’t bother turning when she said, “right hand corner of the top dresser drawer.”

Anna took the time to go over to the kitchen and drop a kiss on the top of Charlie’s head.

“Add making dinner and make it two weeks and you can have the rest of the bottle.”

“Deal,” Anna called from Charlie’s room. The sound of the bottle rattling was faint under Charlie’s continued typing. Anna was popping a pill into her mouth as she walked back into the living room. “I’m going home this weekend though, so this whole deal starts Monday.”

“I know. Some big party your parents are throwing, right?”

Anna’s sigh was her only response. She lay back down on the couch and picked up the remote, hoping that between the Vicodin and sitcoms, she could keep her hangover at bay. She turned the volume down to barely audible and curled further in on herself. She knew she wouldn’t fall asleep, but she could fall into a nice little fog if she let herself and that was her aim. It got even better when Charlie packed up her laptop to prepare for class, brought Anna a glass of water and laid a throw blanket gently on top of her.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. Her voice came out clearer when she spoke again before Charlie was out the door. “Will you pick up some dinner from that new Thai place off Capitol?”

“I’m taking money from your purse to do it,” Charlie told her. She didn’t wait for Anna’s go ahead before she was out the door.

Anna, opening the bottle and swallowing another pill, prepared to drift away into the most comfortable place she could get until Charlie came back. Then, she’d try to figure out how she was going to survive her weekend at home.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby didn’t mind the parties her parents dragged her to most of the time; Nicholas Morgenstern may have been a tyrant, and by some accounts a “self-serving evil bastard,” but he would take every opportunity to show off his wife and brag about his daughters. Ruby liked being around to hear that.

But she hated when these society parties were at the Milton’s. Michael and Naomi Milton were nothing but snobs in Ruby’s eyes. She’d be the first to admit, to the right people, when she knew exactly who was listening, that her family wasn’t exactly always on the right side of the law, but there had yet to be a way to prove that and as it was, the Morgensterns were a part of the same high society thanks to their meteoric rise in tax brackets. Neither of the Miltons could ever keep their surprise off their faces when no one else at their parties seemed to look down their noses at the Morgensterns the way they did. Half the time Ruby had to restrain herself from sticking out her tongue at Naomi behind her father’s back.

She could make nice in her low cut black dress and her sky high heels though; her father had shelled out enough money for her to look good and there was no way she was letting boots like that go to waste.  She didn’t care if it would scandalize the whole party. No one would dare make a peep about it.

She was two glasses of wine into the cocktail hour before she was bored though. Her father had gotten into a discussion with a guest Ruby hadn’t ever met before that night about football (a lucrative game to run the figures on for Nicholas Morgenstern) and her stepmother had been dragged away by some chef friend of the family to give her expertise on the wine selection, much to the dismay of Naomi Milton. Ruby almost missed her sister for a moment, but Lilith was half way across the country and the two of them had only ever really gotten along in public for their father’s sake. But at least Ruby would have had someone to talk to. Very few families in their social circle had children around Ruby’s age, and even fewer had children that Ruby would consider friends; the Talbots had returned to England earlier in the month, Bela leaving Ruby with the promise to answer any time she called. Ruby hadn’t even seen the Milton’s daughter.

 _It’s a lousy day when I wish I’d see Anna Milton,_ Ruby scoffed mentally.

Her heels clicked on the Milton’s floors when she gently excused herself from her father’s side under the pretense of finding a bathroom. She took another glass of wine on the way out as she passed one of the waiters and hoped no one noticed.

The Miltons may have been snobs in Ruby’s opinion‒ the type of family who would think buying their own furniture was low class‒ but their home was beautiful because of it. Art lined the hallways, but there was nothing gauche. Tastefully gilded mirrors, modern monochromatic canvases, and the occasional floral arrangement decorated the cream walls. There was nothing personal in the décor, but Ruby had seen the family portraits that hung in the library of the house. She’d rolled her eyes at them, yet, she wouldn’t mind finding the library again, since they had to have a computer she could probably hack into to get some work done in there, no matter how old fashioned they seemed.

She finished her wine and set the glass down on the first marble end table she saw, hiding it behind some flowers the best she could. She was about to turn the corner when she heard music coming from the opposite way. It wasn’t the quiet strings that the hosts had been playing while guests sipped their cocktails, but something familiar and full of bass. Disregarding the idea of the library, Ruby made a left and continued on that way as the music grew louder.  A heavy wooden door was practically shaking from the volume and Ruby didn’t bother to knock when she reached it.

Anna hadn’t even locked the door, much to Ruby’s amusement. It swung open and Ruby saw Anna in a party dress, a blue sheath of a thing with glittering straps, bent over her vanity, a straw to her nose. Anna finished her line and straightened up. Terror flashed through her eyes before she recognized Ruby. Ruby simply raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t take you for a cokehead, Milton,” Ruby told her, pitching her voice to be heard above the music. Anna reached over and turned the volume down and waved a hand for Ruby to come fully into her room instead of standing in the doorway. Ruby closed it behind her and Anna seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s not coke,” Anna told her. “I wouldn’t ever do coke before one of my parents' dinners.”

She reached into a drawer on her vanity and brought up an orange bottle, shaking it a little toward Ruby.

“Vicodin?”

Ruby shook her head at the offer. “No.” She didn’t bother to mask her sneer or her confusion. Anna shrugged it off and put the bottle back in her drawer.  Her eyes were a little glassy when she straightened up and a small smile played on her lips.

“You look nice,” Anna told her. Ruby was sure her expression hadn’t changed from judgement. Anna did notice that. “Sorry, I get friendly when I take pills.”

Ruby let her expression soften; there was no reason to be an ass to the girl when she was in her house, even if she hadn’t ever cared for her much. It wasn’t as though Ruby’d never met anyone else who got affectionate while on drugs; she was fairly certain that was the half the reason Sam Winchester had decided to be friends with her last year. That and the fact that she’d had a constant supply of Adderall she’d sell him for cheap to get him through his toughest semester. 

“I get that,” Ruby murmured.

Anna hadn’t made any movement towards leaving her room and Ruby wondered if she was planning on skipping the dinner portion of the evening as well as the cocktails. Having that dress on and skipping dinner seemed like a stupid idea to Ruby, but she also wasn’t snorting crushed painkillers off a vanity in her parent’s mansion, so, she thought, her decision making skills were much different than Anna’s.

“Are my parents at least serving good wine?” Anna asked, just as Ruby was starting to feel the silence stretch awkwardly.

Ruby nodded and gave a one shouldered shrug and Anna grinned. She came and looped her arm through Ruby’s, where her hand was on her hip. _She really is friendly,_ Ruby thought, looking at Anna’s hand on her arm.

"Come on," Anna said, "I'm sure they're all just about to sit down for dinner."

Anna stumbled a little bit as she started to walk and Ruby stopped her before they got too far.

"Milton, you gonna put shoes on for dinner?" Ruby only noticed because she was just about the same height as the other girl. She'd figured that she would put them on before they made their way to the dining room if Anna was going there, but Anna had had other plans apparently.  She looked down at her bare feet, with her green toenail polish, and laughed.

"No, I don't think I will. It's my house right?"

Ruby scrunched her face up. "That doesn't feel unsanitary to you?"

Anna shook her head and tried to drag Ruby down the hall; Ruby went along with her. "Do you keep your shoes on to eat dinner at your house?"

"When we have over thirty guests, yeah, usually."

"Have you ever felt the heated marble floors we have in the dining room on your bare feet?" Anna didn't wait for the response that Ruby wasn't going to give her. "It's great. And it'll be great right now."

Had Anna and Ruby really been friends, Ruby might have stopped her and made her go put on at least a pair of flats if she wasn't going to wear the heels that she'd had sitting out in her room that seemed custom made for the dress she was wearing. As it was, Ruby knew exactly how other guests would react to Anna's bare feet and she hid a smile. Anything to see the Miltons humiliated. Their hippie daughter maybe would do it before anything else did.

The dining room seemed as though it were miles away and Anna still had a grasp on Ruby's arm.  There was a silence between them that didn't seem to faze Anna at all, but Ruby was dying not to be touching the other girl at that point. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had that much contact with someone she wasn't sleeping with and she certainly didn't remember allowing someone she wasn't close with to touch her in such a manner, not if she wasn't getting something out of it.

"Ruby, can I ask you something?" Anna said after they passed a room with an open door. Ruby had peeked in and saw the giant family portrait before she even saw the books that lined the walls of the library. She would have been right if she'd stayed to the right and not let her curiosity about the music get the best of her. Ruby didn't answer and Anna went on. "I heard from Sam Winchester-"

"How do you know Sam?" Ruby asked before she could stop herself. Anna waved a hand.

"I slept with his brother this week," she said. Her same hand came up to her mouth. Ruby's eyebrow shot up. "I mean, I had class with him. Anyway, I saw him this week and he said that you used to hang around the kids who had Adderall in that class?"

Ruby's other eyebrow rose as well, telling Anna to continue on.

"Do you still know anyone who could get me some? I have a test coming up that I probably need to study for. I mean, I figure I can get the notes from someone to make up for the classes I've missed, but I really think I'd do better if I had some."

Ruby tried not to slow down or let a stutter fall into her steps. She'd known that Anna partook in the college's culture of drugs, even before she'd seen her in her bedroom earlier, but she'd never thought that she would get the opportunity to affect that habit in such an immediate way. Her father would love knowing that Naomi and Michael Milton's daughter had come to his daughter for her illegal proclivities. It would be blackmail for a very long time.

"Yeah, I still know some people," Ruby told her hesitantly. Anna turned a little to smile at her. "When would you want it by?"

"Oh, as soon as possible."

Ruby nodded, trying to think about the best plan of action. They were nearing the dining room- she could hear the voices of the other guests and the clinking of wine glasses and there was no way that she was going to keep this conversation going in there.

"Yeah, alright. I can get you some. It might be a little pricier on such short notice if you want them this weekend, but I think I might know someone who can swing it."

Anna's smile was still going strong as she stopped outside the dining room doors. "That would be amazing. 15 a pill?"

"Can you do 20?" Ruby asked, pushing her luck. That was double what she usually charged students, but she knew exactly how much money Anna had to spare and if she could make some extra cash to screw her over, she wouldn't hesitate. Her father had taught her better than to do that.

"Yeah, sure. You can get them to me by Sunday?"

"I'll get your number after dinner and we'll figure out a meeting place."

Anna finally took her hand off Ruby's arm and held it out to shake. "Deal."

Ruby felt no shame when she shook Anna's hand and Anna was still smiling at her in thanks as she pushed open the door to the dining room and the two of them walked in.

“Oh, you found our daughter,” Ruby heard as she stepped into the room. Naomi Milton was smiling at her, the expression turning into a forced one when she looked at her daughter. Her eyes flicked down to Anna’s bare feet and it was clear Anna didn’t see the disdain in her mother’s eyes; Ruby did. “We thought she might have forgotten. The same way she must forget when her classes meet.”

“I just lost track of time doing my makeup, Mother,” Anna told her with a shrug.

“So much that you forgot about shoes, too,” Naomi hissed. Anna’s cheeks colored just slightly but she didn’t say anything to her mother. Ruby didn’t pretend not to be listening to the interaction but she still smiled back when Naomi returned her attention to her. She raised a hand to point as she said, “I have you seated next to your father and stepmother near the Lacroix’s.”

“Actually,” Nicholas Morgenstern began as he appeared behind Naomi, his wife at his elbow. “Daniel Blake and Lance are having a very in depth discussion about future options for shellfish stock, so I told Daniel we would be more than willing to switch spots with him so they could continue the conversation.”

The smile Nicholas wore told everyone around that he knew just how much that was going to annoy Naomi‒ no one changed the seating arrangements at a dinner party. It also told everyone exactly how happy he was that it would bother her. It was possible that his wife’s smile said it even louder. 

“Well, of course,” Naomi said, her voice as falsely bright as her smile. “You and Abigail and Ruby will be next to us then.”

“Lovely,” Abigail, the redhead Nicholas married when Ruby was 13 and who his associates called Abaddon for her penchant to destroy ventures she didn’t want the Morgensterns to be caught in, purred.

Naomi’s smile tightened and her heels clicked as she led them to their spots and the elaborate dining table. Anna was next to Ruby holding back laughter. Ruby found herself biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as well. As it was, she was smirking when she sat down and looked at the golden candlesticks and engraved china and crystal goblets of water on the table to avoid Naomi’s gaze. When she did move her gaze from the finely set table, Anna was looking right at her from across the spread. Ruby looked away, her eyes finding Naomi, who was standing at the left corner of the table. Her husband was standing as well, but it was clear that Naomi was the one who would address their guests.

“Thank you all so much for coming,” Naomi started with a smile. “We are so glad, once again, to celebrate such an occasion with all of you, such pillars of our community.”

Ruby wanted to gag at the sucking up. She also wanted to ask what the occasion was exactly; her family had been invited to the early October party the Miltons threw for the last four years, and she still had no idea what it was a party to celebrate. _Probably something ridiculous,_ she thought.

“If you would all be so kind as to take your seats, Michael will say grace and our lovely wait staff will bring out the first course.”

There was a controlled flurry of movement as guests found their places and sat. The men held out chairs for their wives and napkins were placed on laps. Ruby glanced around the room and took note of the identical postures everyone had and the way all conversations seemed to halt out of respect for the grace about to be said. Heads began to bow and it was clear that the Morgensterns were the only family not going to observe such a ritual. Ruby tuned out whatever aphorisms of thanks Michael Milton was saying and kept her eyes trained on the door, wondering what the Milton’s would serve first; they hadn’t offered appetizers with cocktails, so she assumed quiche or shrimp cocktail would be coming out the door from the kitchen first. What lead the way were waiters carrying bottles of wine and Ruby perked up. At least she could get ‘business’ drunk if she would have to sit through this. She could see that Anna seemed just as eager about the alcohol and settled in to see if the night would turn into a mess as the Milton daughter downed wine while she was already high on Vicodin.

The first course was soup and Ruby was as dainty about eating it as the rest of the guests were; the only person who wasn’t was Anna. She slurped the last of her bowl up from her spoon, showing her enjoyment much more than anyone else did. Only Ruby noticed the heated glances both of her parents were throwing at her, though Anna still looked content with the food and her wine that she was sipping.

The wait staff came through the kitchen doors again, plates of oysters on their trays that they set down as they took the soup dishes away. Ruby’s eyes immediately went to Anna to see how she would approach this portion of the meal and how her parents might react to it. She didn’t disappoint, sucking the oysters out of their shells with gusto before her mother hissed her name at her.

“Oh, sorry,” she said. Ruby hid her smile in her wine glass. Anna’s antics only amused Ruby because of how much she disliked Anna’s parents, but every time she let Anna see that, it felt like it was tacit approval; it wasn’t.  Ruby glanced over at her father and tried to imagine showing such disrespect for him in his home and she couldn’t even fathom it. Her mind went absolutely blank at the prospect. She worked too hard at doing the exact opposite and making that noticed.

“So, Ruby,” Michael said, breaking the silence that had descended upon their end of the table. Ruby looked at him with a polite smile, setting her wine glass down, and he went on.  “Your father said earlier that you’re starting to work for him at his company. Are you enjoying it?”

“I am,” Ruby nodded. “It’s great to get experience in the business world while I’m still in school and I’m glad for the opportunity to get to help my family.”

It sounded like a line, and part of it was, but her ‘opportunity to help her family’ was an opportunity to add tax free money to their hidden vaults. She showed up to her father’s legitimate offices a few nights every week, but her real responsibilities were on the illegal side of the Morgenstern business and they had been for a while. It was why she knew exactly how to help Anna.

“That’s admirable,” Naomi chimed in. Ruby smiled in thanks and knew that her father had done so as well with the slight grimace that flashed on Naomi’s face before she turned to acknowledge Anna. “We’re hoping Anna will take an internship at my office this summer. Keep her out of trouble.”

It came out as though it were supposed to be a joke, but it didn’t fool anyone at the table. Ruby felt something in her flare up.

“I have a friend who would kill for the chance to intern at your office,” she said. Naomi’s eyebrows rose and Ruby realized how that had come out. She backtracked. “If Anna didn’t want it, of course. I mean, it’s such a well-respected law office that I’m sure plenty of people would, so I can’t imagine she wouldn’t.”

“Thank you, dear.”

Anna hadn’t said anything through the exchange, and in fact, she didn’t even look as though she were paying attention. She was rearranging the oyster shells on her plate.

It no longer amused Ruby that Anna seemed to disregard her surroundings so. Her parents were still willing to give her a position that could lead to real power despite the fact that she clearly didn’t care about anything other than having a good time. Ruby’s father had just as much money as the Miltons did‒ or almost, since he hadn’t come from a generations old wealthy line‒yet the Miltons were condescending to him and to Ruby. They had no right to be when their daughter acted the way she did.  In that moment, Ruby found herself even more pleased that she was going to be able to screw Anna over and even more determined to find more ways to do it.

Ruby made sure she kept smiling politely throughout the dinner, never letting on that she was planning a way to take the Miltons down a peg or two in the future. After dinner she went so far as to let Anna hug her after getting her number and confirming how much Adderall she wanted. She just grinned at her father when he sent a questioning glance her way. She’d tell him soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late when Anna got back to her apartment on Sunday night, but not by any choice of her own. She’d met the guy‒ Andy‒ that Ruby had sent her drugs with early that morning, hoping to get them, get back to her parents’ place and then get out as soon as possible, but her mother had had other plans. Those plans had included telling Anna exactly what she and her father expected from her and exactly what they would be doing to her if she did not shape up. They weren’t threats Anna hadn’t heard before and her response wasn’t something she hadn’t given before, but that had only served to make Naomi more upset this time.

Instead of being able to leave for the comfort of her own place, Naomi had ordered Anna into the library where she proceeded to watch Anna read four chapters of different law textbooks and complete an annotated bibliography for a class she wasn’t even in any longer, because Naomi would ‘fix that immediately.’

“No daughter of mine won’t get into the best law school in the country for missing out on a tax law class,” she’d insisted. Anna’s throat hurt from holding back tears by the time she left and as soon as her mother had shut the door after their goodbyes, Anna had dry swallowed a Vicodin. She’d made a note to ask Ruby if she knew anyone who would get her more of that too, if she was going to run through Charlie’s old stash so quickly.

Charlie could tell exactly how the weekend went when Anna stepped in the door. After a weekend of looking at her parents in business suits and formalwear, Anna’s heart swelled at how comfortable Charlie looked in plaid pajama pants and a violently pink shirt. That swelling grew when Charlie gave her a sympathetic pout and patted the couch.

 Anna immediately put her head on Charlie’s shoulder when she sat next to her.

“Have you been crying?”

Anna shook her head and felt Charlie hesitate before nodding just slightly. The two sat in silence, with Charlie running a hand through Anna’s hair in comfort. Anna sighed and after a moment, straightened herself up.

“They both just drive me nuts. At dinner on Friday, she brought up that stupid internship idea again. In front of other people. In front of the only other person my age at the party. There was no way I could deny it like that because we’d never have an actual conversation and she just drives me crazy.”

Charlie opened her mouth to say something but Anna stopped her.

“And I know I already said that.”

Charlie’s mouth snapped shut. Anna sighed again and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading towards her room to put her things away. When she came back in leggings and a hoodie, Charlie had figured out what she wanted to say.

“It could be worse, you know,” she replied gently. Anna cringed in guilt; she knew what Charlie hadn’t said.

“Thank you for always letting me complain about them when I go home. I know it’s not fair of me.”

Charlie shrugged and picked up the controller she’d set down when Anna’d walked in.  “Do you mind if I play a little longer?”

“No. I’m going to go smoke anyway.” Anna slid a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and waved them at Charlie.

“Since when do you smoke cigarettes when you’re sober?”

“I bought a pack tonight on the way home. Seemed like a good idea. Plus, I think it’ll kick this Vicodin high into overdrive now.” She grabbed her keys back out of the bowl she’d tossed them in before and was out on the lawn in front of their place in no time.

The metal bench she sat down on sent bars of coldness through her leggings even though it wasn’t that cool of a night. The cigarette end glowed orange as she took a drag in and the menthol flavor filled her mouth. She replayed her mother’s words about law school and the internship on repeat until her deep breaths of nicotine reignited her Vicodin high in exactly the way she’d wanted it to. Then it was easy to let her eyes flick between the bright light of the moon and the cherry of her smoke and concentrate on that. Anna sat, staring at the moon for another ten minutes, lighting up another cigarette as soon as she finished the first one.

Charlie was in the bathroom, the sounds of her electric toothbrush loud in the acoustics of the apartment, when Anna made her way back into the place. She wasn’t in there much longer and padded out in her pajamas.

“Remember that you told me you’d try to go to class this week,” Charlie said with a pointed look. Anna nodded without looking Charlie in the eye. The two girls said goodnight and Anna pulled out her phone, opening Tinder, wondering if that was how she should spend her high. Somehow, in the midst of three conversations with different people, none of which seemed to be heading in the “show up and let’s fuck” route that Anna’s current state desired, she found herself reading up on sensory deprivation tanks. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was sending a half formed text to Charlie about wanting one.

She woke up with her phone buzzing in her hand and the light shining into their window. It was Charlie calling.

“You have class in an hour, so wake up.”

She’d hung up already by the time Anna processed what she’d said and groaned. But Charlie was right; she had _Religions of the World_ within the hour and she reeked of stale cigarettes. At least that class wasn’t so bad, in Anna’s eyes. There could have been a lot of worse starts to this week of holding up her end of the bargain for Charlie. She was already planning on texting Ruby’s contact about getting more Adderall to get through some of her law classes during the rest of the week.

Anna couldn’t count the number of times people had told her to drop the pre-law program and concentrate on something she had actually enjoyed at school, but she knew that the number of times she’d told people she couldn’t was that plus some. There was no way to explain to Naomi and Michael that she’d rather learn about Buddhism or Gonzo journalism than any aspect of law and have them not revoke any small ounce of freedom she had. It wasn’t worth it. Anna got through it the best way she knew how: by having fun in every other aspect of her life. She thought about that when she pulled on a pair of zebra striped leggings after getting out of the shower. In those and a lime green off the shoulder sweater, she could at least look fun even if she was stuck in classes for the next four hours.

Even though she’d just washed the smell off of herself, she lit up one of the cigarettes from her impulse pack on her walk, preparing for a long day.

*

“Yesterday wasn’t so bad,” Anna shrugged at Charlie the next night when she was making dinner. Charlie’d gotten home late from a programming class she was teaching at the community college across town and missed out on the meal Anna’d made, so Anna was whipping up something new for her that night. “But, god, today was boring. I need something to get me through Tuesdays if you’re going to stay on me about going to class.”

Charlie smiled at her roommate with a glint in her eye that said she was going to do exactly that.

“Thank goodness I can at least go out tomorrow night since I don’t have class Thursday.” Anna stuck her tongue out at Charlie and Charlie rolled her eyes. That was a battle neither girl would win if they started, so they didn’t. Charlie knew better than that.

They ate in between conversation about Charlie’s students and which of them would be able to out-hack her someday and which of them would never be able to make a functioning website without guidance. It delved into the ethics of hacking with her students and/or sleeping with them if given the chance and both of them were laughing into their stir fry, Anna almost upsetting the bowl of extra rice. It was a good night and it reminded Anna of how nice it could be to spend time with her friend. She knew that she sometimes got caught up in always looking for a new adventure, a new party, but she loved Charlie like they were sisters and that was a good enough experience in itself some nights.

That didn’t stop her from cracking open a bottle of vodka and taking a shot as soon as she got home from her last class the next day, though. She was halfway to drunk  by the time she put the finishing touches on her makeup and was heading out the door to see if she couldn’t meet up with Pamela or Lisa. She wasn’t too concerned that she wasn’t getting any responses from her friends she’d texted since it was a Wednesday night and she was fairly sure at least a third of the campus that was of age would be at the bar. She always found someone to spend her time with.

That night it was a black man who introduced himself as Raphael and looked unsure as he removed a binder from his chest once he’d brought Anna home. He didn’t look unsure of anything when Anna surged forth and kissed him hard and let her hands wrap around his shoulders. The only thing Anna herself was uncertain of was whether or not she would remember where she was when she woke up. She figured it out from the note Raphael left her on his kitchen table that she read as she snagged a bagel and made sure his apartment door was locked on her way out.

Charlie was unsurprised to see her walk in with a hickey on her neck and a coffee in her hand. She left with a shake of her head and Anna proceeded to fall half asleep with her cup of coffee tilting precariously. She only fully came to when Charlie got home again.

Friday passed in a blur of class and getting ready to go out, much as Wednesday had, and somehow Anna found a way to liven up the next two weeks, hitting up the connection Ruby had gotten her for Oxy in the middle of the school week and then scoring some killer pot from a friend of his one night at one of the dive bars. Anna was having fun and hadn’t been thinking about anything her parents had said to her when she went home. She’d barely thought about the visit and anything she’d done during it until almost three weeks later when she was out with Pamela.

Or she _had_ been out with Pamela. She didn’t know when she’d got separated from her, but Anna was on her own, talking to some guy. She looked around, eyes flashing through the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of Pamela- recognizable by the tattoo on her back that her shirt was surely baring or a wild flip of her hair as she acted as though club music was appropriate to head-bang to. She didn’t see her though, and she was forced to meet the man in front of her’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, what were we talking about?”

The man’s mouth curved up into a cruel looking smile and Anna tried to ignore the fear creeping up her spine. It was surprisingly harder to do than she would have thought considering how drunk she felt. She and Pamela had probably done too many shots. She might have taken a drag from a joint someone had had outside when Pamela went to go smoke a cigarette as well. The heat in the club wasn’t helping her feel sober either, but she’d been worse before. She could trust herself to get out of this situation if need be and she could probably push it a little farther if she were being honest with herself.

“I asked if you were having a good time.”

“Oh, yeah,” Anna nodded, mood brightening. She’d expected something totally different.

“Do you want to have a better time?”

“What’s your name again?” Anna had the presence of mind to ask before she answered. She liked to party, but she wasn’t a complete idiot when she was on her own.

The man smiled wider. “It’s Ansem. Friend of Andy’s. You’re Anna. He said he’s sold to you a few times. Told me you like to have a good time.”

He’d inched closer to Anna so he didn’t have to keep shouting over the music and his breath was hot at her ear. She resisted the urge to pull away and instead she shrugged. She’d find Pamela later if she had to, and if this guy‒ Ansem‒ ran with Andy and therefore, Ruby’s people, he probably couldn’t be that bad; at least, he couldn’t in Anna’s mind at the moment.

“Yeah, I like to have a good time.” She wasn’t able to get anything else out before he held a hand with two green tablets out to her. One was printed with an eye and the other with a winking face and Anna couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her mouth. “I definitely like having that type of good time,” she told him as she picked one of the pills out of his palm and set it on her tongue. It had barely begun to dissolve when Ansem’s hand rose closer to her face, offering her the second tablet and Anna’s tongue darted out almost on its own accord.

She gave him a smile that matched the one he sent her way and she went to turn when he held his hand back out. She grabbed at it and he snatched it away with a shake of his head. She raised an eyebrow at him, confused and he held out his hand again, this time with a shake. Her mouth fell into an ‘oh.’

“I don’t have any cash,” she told him. Where his eyes had almost been flirty before, now they were fiery.

“What?”

Anna repeated herself and shook her head. She added, “I have my card at the bar. That’s all I carry to the club.”

Ansem’s hand shot out and grabbed Anna’s wrist tightly, making her hiss in pain.

“Why the fuck would you take the molly then?” His voice sounded deadly and Anna tried to twist her wrist out of his grasp. She couldn’t and he started to drag her backwards toward ~~s~~ the wall of the club. His eyes flashed as he recognized something in Anna’s face. “Don’t you dare scream.”

“I thought it was a gift! Or I could pay you later. You never said‒”

“I shouldn’t have had to say!” he cut her off. “You dumb bitch.”

They were at the wall now, Ansem having pulled the two of them through the crowd and Anna resisting only so much. He wasn’t a big guy, but he looked like he would have dragged her across the floor if he had to. Suddenly, he yanked her closer to him and they went through a door Anna hadn’t even noticed. There was a tall man with a greying beard at the focal point of the conversation in the small room.

“What‒”

“She can’t pay,” Ansem told the man, keeping Anna from speaking. Anna had thought Ansem’s smile was cruel, but it was nothing compared to this man’s. Her terror spiked despite the drugs in her system. It ratcheted even farther up  when Ansem shoved her at the man and he caught her brutally as she stumbled. He was definitely the type who would drag her across the floor without batting an eye.

“Well, well, well,” he said, his voice nasally and grating. It gave Anna the worst sort of goosebumps. “We know what to do then, don’t we?”

Anna’s eyes flicked between this man and Ansem and she didn’t like what she saw on either of their faces. She opened her mouth‒ to yell, scream, or just protest, she wasn’t even sure, but she didn’t get to find out. The man who had her in his grip placed a hand over her mouth.

“No need to get loud, girl. We won’t hurt you. Not without our boss’ permission.”

Anna had a short moment where her brain supplied her with the question of who the boss could be, before she was being marched through another door.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby was just about sick of the thumping bass; the one bad thing about being in charge of the family drug business was that she so frequently had her base of operations in a club with some pulsing music that annoyed her half to death. No one wanted drugs the same way club goers on a Friday night did though. Her phone buzzed on the table.

_Alistair’s bringing someone in. can’t pay. Your call._

It was a burner phone, but Ruby doubted it was from anyone who was high enough up that she knew. Her eyes flipped up to the door and she hoped she’d be able to make out whoever Alistair was bringing in to assess a threat level. The shadows were too deep to see anything more than the height and vague shape of whoever came in to the back room that they had set up in, but occasionally the light would flicker in a way that would give Ruby a clue. She was tapping her phone gently against the table when the door opened and she got lucky enough to see a flash of red hair. Alistair cast a tall shadow as he entered and it didn’t take long for Ruby to see that his one hand was wrapped around his partner’s arm. It took longer for her to recognize that his partner was Anna Milton.

She breathed out a curse word as she watched Anna stumble over her shoes and Alistair shot a glare of daggers at her. His expression turned smug when he looked back at Ruby and thrust Anna towards her. Anna winced and rubbed her arm before she too turned to look at Ruby. A pleased expression lit across her face and Ruby’s eyes flashed in warning. However messed up Anna was, it wasn’t enough that she didn’t let her face fall back into the annoyed expression she’d been wearing. She stiffened when Alistair came up behind her again.

“This little slut,” he hissed into her ear while looking at Ruby. His hand had come up to flip Anna’s loose hair off her bare shoulder as he said the last word and Anna shivered. Alistair went on, his voice oily, “Seems to think that she can get certain things for free.”

Anna jerked away and stepped closer to Ruby. “It’s not like that!” she protested.

“What’s it like?” Ruby asked. Anna breathed a small sigh and Alistair’s face stayed impassive while Ruby was trying to be diplomatic.

“I ran into a guy who said he was a friend of Andy’s or something‒ Ansem? And he said he knew something that would make me have a good time and when he slipped me the tablets he asked for money and he didn’t believe me when I said I only had my card. I only carry my card to the bar, I always have!” Anna’s voice elevated in pitch and decibel as her story went on; she sounded nearly hysterical by the time she took a break and heaved. “And he dragged me to the back of this club and shoved me at him”‒ there she pointed a shaky finger at Alistair‒”and he dragged me back here and I swear that I’ll pay for the molly if you want me to but he acted like it was free otherwise I wouldn’t have taken it.”

“Did you already take them?” Ruby asked, still calm. Anna nodded.

“We could always force them out,” Alistair threatened. Ruby silenced him with a glare; she may have been half his age, but she was his boss’ daughter and in charge of this operation under his direction.

“You’re fairly coherent for being fucked up,” Ruby pointed out. Anna just whimpered in response. Ruby could see Anna wavering though. But that was perfect for her plan. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips before she spoke again, addressing Alistair. “She’s good for the money. She has been before and she will be now.”

Alistair gritted his teeth, but he didn’t argue. He did grab Anna’s wrist, violently, and spin her to face him.

“If you’re not, I’ll get a pound of flesh. I always do.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, but liked that Alastair was unwittingly playing the bad cop to her good one. Anna’s gratitude would work right into an opportunity. She went about showing it as soon as Alistair had left, letting the music thump into the room loudly before the door slammed.

“Oh my god, Ruby, thank you so much. You know I’ll be good for the money, you‒”

“Don’t grovel, Milton, it’s not your style,” Ruby smirked. Anna looked shocked. “What? I can’t be nice? Plus, what’s two tabs of molly between friends, right?”

Anna rushed forward and threw her arms around Ruby. Ruby stiffened at first, unsure of how to react to the other girl hanging off of her. She brought a hesitant hand to her back.

“Okay, you’re alright,” Ruby reassured her. She let Anna clutch at her for a moment. “Please, stop hugging me,” 

“Thank you,” Anna said one more time. When she pulled back, finally letting go of Ruby, her eyes looked glassier than they had.  That would work.

“Did you come here with anyone?” Ruby asked.

“No. I mean, I met up with my friend Pamela, but she had to leave already.” If Anna found that question odd, she didn’t show it in any way. One of her hands rubbed against her thigh slowly and Ruby held back a smirk.

“You going home?”

“What?” Anna asked. Her incredulity showed there. Ruby repeated her question, but halfway through it, Anna was shaking her head in a ‘no.’ “Why would I go home?”

Ruby’s mouth turned down in a mask of surprise. “No reason,” she denied. “Do you want me to come out there with you then? I can get us a VIP table, easily.”

Anna’s face lit up, her smile higher on one side than the other, and she threw her arms around Ruby again. Her arms weighed heavy on Ruby this time and Ruby was about to pull away when Anna pulled herself back.

“That would be amazing!” Anna told her, not asking about any of the consequences. Ruby smiled back at her grin and Anna took her hand.

She was tugging her towards the door before Ruby could stop her. Ruby had to dig her heels in to get Anna to let her stop for a moment and talk to one of the men trying to be inconspicuous standing guard at the door.

"Let's shut it down for the night, Ruby told him. She patted her hand against her hip where he cellphone was stashed in her jean pocket. The man nodded in acknowledgment and nodded his head at his companion across the room at the door that led to the back exit of the building. Ruby had taken breaks and gone out to dance other nights, but she'd never shut an operation down. They knew that if they saw something that bode well for them they could get a hold of her. Anna didn't seem any wiser of the dealings of their stop.

The music was loud and the humidity was sweltering as soon as they stepped through the door Anna had opened. Anna's hand was still entwined in Ruby's and Ruby followed along as Anna's hips swayed to the music while she walked. She found her head nodding along to the beat as well.

"Will they come get our drinks at the VIP table?" Anna had to almost shout to be heard over the music.

Ruby snorted out a laugh. "What sort of VIP table would it be if they wouldn't?" Anna's face looked fairly blank still and Ruby restated her point, louder this time. "Yes, of course. We'll get bottle service."

Anna's teeth shone brightly under the black lights as they kept walking. Ruby had to begin to lead as Anna started to pass where they needed to turn to get to a VIP table. She turned over her shoulder.

"We'll get bottle service. See if anyone else cool is here." Ruby didn't let on who her definition of anyone else cool would be, but Anna's continued grin said that she didn't really care.  "What's your poison?"

"Anything," Anna said. She was pressed against Ruby's back since they'd been stalled in the crowd by a group of girls who'd kicked their shoes off to dance in a tight circle; there was a swarm of men around them. Ruby scowled and she elbowed her way in, kicking one of the heels in the pile across the floor with a skitter. She swore she could hear someone's indignant scoff, but she didn't pause to look back.  The tables she was aiming for were too close for her to care who was shooting her daggers. She pushed Anna into the partitioned booth ahead of her. She followed and closed the velvet curtain. They blocked only so much of the sounds of the club out.

Anna would have thought that a VIP table was more private than it actually was, but there was a row of tables and booths that they could see; it was quieter than the rest of the club, but they were not cordoned off by anything other than the curtain. There was a group of men in suit vests at the table next to them and a couple who were on the verge of having sex at another. A group of people of mixed genders sat on the other side of the men and beyond them was a group of women, one of whom had a sash on that read "Bride to Be" if Anna could trust her eyesight in such a dark atmosphere. Before she could turn and ask Ruby about anything, a waitress with nothing but hot pants and a glittering bandeau top was at their table.

"Hey, Ruby, what can we get you tonight?" the woman said.

"You seen Meg here at all tonight? Or Casey?" The woman shook her head. "Damnit. Okay. Let me know if you do see them, alright?"

"Of course."

"And can we get a bottle of tequila? Silver."

The woman nodded again and was gone in a flash of light against her sparkles.

"So, do we have to sit here while she brings us a bottle or will this table be saved?" Anna asked. Ruby raised an eyebrow at her. Anna shrugged. "I mean, you seem important enough that the table is ours for the night now."

"It is," Ruby stated.

"Then let's go dance!" Anna was already halfway to standing up. Ruby grabbed at her hand and pulled her back down, perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary.

“Let Anne Marie bring us our tequila first, huh?” Anna rolled her eyes at Ruby with a faux-put-upon pout. Ruby tried not to laugh. “Besides, I don’t really dance.”

“Oh no, if you’re with me, you dance.” Anna sounded more serious than Ruby had ever heard her. Ruby was still shaking head and Anna’s expression turned to one of wheedling. “Come on, Ruby. What’s the point of being in a club, being drunk and on X if we don’t dance?”

“Well,” Ruby started, “I’m not drunk or on X.”

“So the two of us are just going to sit here and get drunk by ourselves? Seems like we should at least invite the guys next to us over here or something.”

Ruby’s mouth turned into a frown. She was saved from saying anything as Anne Marie showed back up with a bottle of tequila and lime wedges, a salt and a sugar shaker, and shot glasses.

“Put it on your tab, Ruby?” she asked as she set all the things down. Ruby nodded. “Have a good night, ladies!”

Anne Marie had left the curtain slightly open when she left and Ruby tried to subtly widen the gap with her foot. Anna didn’t notice.

Anna already had a hand wrapped around the neck of the tequila bottle and was scooting a glass towards her. She set the other one in front of Ruby. She began to pour.

“If you won’t dance, you wanna play truth or dare?”

It was the absolute last thing Ruby had expected and she burst out in laughter. Anna finished pouring the tequila into Ruby’s glass with a slight flourish and handed her a wedge of lime.

“Salt or sugar?” Anna asked. “And no, I’m not kidding, come on, it’ll be fun. If it’s just us two, let’s do something crazy.”

“Salt. And I don’t really do crazy,” Ruby said, holding her hand out for Anna to shake salt onto the back of it.

“You’re a drug dealer,” Anna responded, her voice entirely too loud for Ruby’s liking. She shot her a look of contempt but Anna was too busy licking the back of her hand in an absolutely obscene way and pouring sugar on the wet bit to notice. “I doubt you really do tame.”

She raised her glass and clinked it against Ruby’s before licking the sugar off her hand. She hit the glass back down on the table and shot it back all before Ruby had removed the salt from her own hand with her tongue. The tequila was smooth and she didn’t mind that Anna had immediately begun to pour a second shot for the two of them.

“Look,” Ruby started after Anna slid her a second shot. Anna shook her head and held her glass out again. Ruby said a quiet ‘cheers’ with her and downed the drink so she could continue. “I know that you just saw me here working with the dealers, but it’d be great if you kept your voice down a little about that.”

Anna looked contrite and an apology came out of her in a rush. Her words seemed to blend together and Ruby shook her head so she wouldn’t have to continue. She snapped her mouth shut and picked the bottle up again.

Ruby held a hand out. “Slow down, Milton. We got all night.”

Anna set the bottle back down on the table with a mild look. Her pupils were blown wide. She shrugged and said “Okay. So truth or dare?”

Ruby rolled her eyes, but she answered, “Dare.”

Anna smiled with glee and clapped her hands. Her hand came up to her face and she tapped a finger on her chin in a show of thinking. Her eyes landed on the table of men by them.

“I dare you to go get the hottest guy at that table to make out with you,” she crowed.

Ruby felt her eyes roll again on their own volition. She glanced over at the table and was shaking her head before she’d even turned back to Anna.

“None of those guys are hot enough for me to switch teams.” Ruby poured them both another shot while she let that sentence sink in for Anna.

Anna was completely unfazed. “So? The point of a dare is it’s something you don’t want to do or you wouldn’t do.” Ruby looked skeptical but Anna tilted her head to wheedle at her. “You don’t have to make out, but flirt with one of them. Get ‘em to suggest a mixer for our tequila. It’ll be even funnier for me to watch you flirt with a guy when you don’t like guys.”

“I didn’t say I’d never been with a guy, Milton,” Ruby snorted. Anna waved it off and then shooed her hands out in encouragement to Ruby. Ruby twisted in her seat to half hang over the partition that divided the booths. She had to wedge herself in between the tiled glass plates that were set up for added privacy, but she had enough space; the men hadn’t wanted that much privacy it seemed.

“Hey,” Ruby started, her voice a little quiet and a lot flat. She heard Anna snort behind her and make a sound of ‘nu-uh.’

“Like you mean it, Morgenstern,” Anna said, mocking Ruby’s use of her last name. Ruby turned to glare at Anna, but she felt her lip curling up in a smile just a tiny bit. She turned back around and let the smile come full out, even if it was mostly fake.

“Hey, fellas,” Ruby pitched her voice louder that time. The men she was directly behind turned and everyone’s eyes landed on her. She brought a hand up to her hair and twirled a lock, ignoring the laugh she could hear from Anna. “So, me and my friend got this bottle of tequila,” Ruby interrupted herself with a giggle and she turned over her shoulder to wink at Anna as a bonus.

“You need help finishing it, honey?” One of the guys smirked. Ruby giggled again, but she knew the smirk on her face was tight and not at all flirty.

“Not yet,” she said, trying to salvage it. “But, we are getting too drunk taking just shots.” At that she laid a hand on one of the men’s shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his gaze flick down to it and his lips twitch in a smile. “So we just wanted to know if you guys had any suggestions for mixers? Or if you had anything you wanted to share with us?”

The five men shared a collective look and then one of them shrugged. He wrapped a hand around the neck of a bottle of bourbon‒ not the expensive stuff, but good enough‒ that was more than half empty. One of his friends took the bottle from him and held it near Ruby’s hand. She made a grab for it and he pulled it back.

“What do we get in return?”

Ruby gritted her teeth but forced a laugh.

“Why don’t you give me the bottle and find out?” She felt like if she giggled one more time her brain would fall out, but she chanced it anyway. They seemed to respond to it.

She saw the guy shrug with one shoulder and nod and she took the bottle from his hands and pulled back through the dividing plates. He didn’t look worried and Ruby kept smiling as she was reaching behind her and closing the one open side divider slowly. She turned back around and she leaned forward as though she were going to wedge her way through again. Her hidden hand was signaling to Anna and hoping she would understand it. The clink of the bottles together told her she did. Ruby was leaning over further and further over, showing ample cleavage to distract the guy from the fact that she was fully on her side of the glass plates. She pursed her lips, watched as the man puckered up as well, and slammed the glass closed.

The curtain waved as she ducked through it in a near run to follow Anna and she was laughing, hard. Anna’s red hair stood out in the lights of the club, making her easy to follow and catch up to. Ruby jerked her head as she took the lead and both women were laughing as Anna passed one of the bottles to Ruby.

Ruby ducked through another door Anna never would have noticed and then they were in a much calmer area. The décor was less worn and the lights were dim like a candlelit restaurant, not a dance club. There weren’t many people in the area, but enough that they weren’t totally alone; it was clearly still part of the club, but even more of a VIP area.  Anna looked around, her glazed eyes still reading as impressed.

Ruby held up her bottle as a toast and said “perks of the owner being a client.”

Anna raised her bottle in return and followed Ruby to another booth, this one more private.

“I can’t believe you stole their bottle. That totally wasn’t part of the dare!”

Ruby grinned. “I don’t know; it seemed like the thing to do.” And it was the truth. “Plus, he seemed like a dick.”

“You talked to him for two seconds!” Anna protested. Ruby shrugged and it made Anna laugh. “You gotta give people more of a chance.”

That made Ruby purse her lips, but she didn’t say anything. Anna still seemed happy enough.

“Ok, my turn. Ask me.”

“You can’t just tell me which one?” Anna shook her head with a smile and Ruby sighed, just for sure. “Fine, truth or dare.”

“Truth,” Anna said, and Ruby’s eyebrows shot up. Anna had been the one who wanted to get crazy, but here she was, giving Ruby the perfect opportunity to get something to hold over her head when the time came. Ruby tried not to grin with glee. Instead of blurting out the first thing she thought of, she slowed herself down by pouring a drink from the bottle they’d stolen. She made a show of thinking of a question by swirling the liquid in her glass.

“Tell me something you’ve never told anyone else,” Ruby said. She kept her voice light, but curious, although she really wanted to demand it.

Anna looked up and away from Ruby and chewed her bottom lip. Ruby wondered if she’d pushed too far too fast and her mind scrambled for a way to take it back, but Anna was speaking.

“I don‘t know that there’s anything that no one knows,” she shrugged.

“Well, something _almost_ no one knows then,” Ruby amended. Anna took a drink, gulping it down. She was nodding and Ruby knew her eyes lit up; she hoped Anna didn’t see it.

“You’ve got to promise not tell anyone. If this got back to my parents, it would devastate them. Possibly end my dad’s career,” Anna said, her voice barely audible. Ruby hoped that Anna could not tell how much joy those words brought her. This night was turning out far better than she had ever planned.

“Promise,” Ruby said, knowing that if they were 13 year old girls at a slumber party she’d be crossing her fingers behind her back. “You can tell me.”

Anna took another gulp of her drink, finishing it and setting it down with a sound of finality.

“I had an abortion.”

Ruby’s head reeled. Michael Milton was one of the most conservative judges on the circuit, and his lobbying for the Supreme Court, while very much an open secret, was built on that fact. It would have been bad enough in the public eye that he had a daughter who did drugs and had sex before marriage, but a daughter who had had an abortion would be a devastating blow. Anna had no idea what ammunition she’d just given Ruby; it was so good that Ruby wasn’t even sure when or how she could use it. Her fingers itched to get on her phone and tell her father right away. She knew it wouldn’t be the best use of it though. Ruby couldn’t even continue to listen even though she saw Anna’s lips moving still.

“-19 and it had been an accident. The only other person who knows is my roommate Charlie. She’s the one who took me. And helped me pay for it without it being traceable. I was surprised by how bad it wasn’t, actually.”

Anna was pouring another drink before Ruby could speak.

“Wow,” was all she could manage. Anna nodded. Her eyes were glazed over.

“I must be really fucked up to tell you that,” Anna mused aloud. Ruby just raised her eyebrows in response, unwilling to confirm that opinion. She shrugged when Anna looked up at her.

“It’s gotta be nice to tell someone else though,” Ruby lied. She’d already mentally filed away the information for how she could use it, ignoring how Anna must feel about it emotionally.

“After three years, yeah,” Anna nodded. There was a lull in the conversation where they both sipped at their drinks. Anna was the first to recover. “Okay, so your turn. Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” came out of  Ruby’s mouth before she had even thought about it. She would have kicked herself if she hadn’t been planning on lying already if she had to.

Anna, who had no hesitation the way that Ruby had, asked “What’s the most illegal thing you’ve ever done?” When Ruby raised an eyebrow, she clarified, “Aside from dealing drugs, of course.”

Ruby didn’t say anything right away, and the sounds of the partying going on around them‒ while a dull roar in comparison to the main room‒ took over their booth. The bottle clinked as Anna set it down from pouring herself another and it spurred Ruby on.

“There’s not really a ton else,” she said. Anna’s face fell, and it must have been the alcohol, but Ruby felt bad about the concealment then and went on. “I mean, there’s not a lot else I’m directly involved in. I sometimes carry an unregistered weapon, I guess.”

“You carry a gun?”

Ruby nodded. “Not always, though.”

“Will you take me shooting? I’ve never fired a gun.”

Ruby furrowed her brow, but said nothing about how odd the request seemed. She shrugged in a noncommittal way. With the way she’d been drinking, Ruby didn’t even know that Anna would remember having asked.

“How long until you think those guys will have left?  Because I think we should definitely put our game on hold until we can be back in an actual crowd. If you dare me to do anything crazy, it’ll be too much in here.”

Ruby was surprised by how lucid of a drunk Anna was‒ surprised and slightly impressed if she were honest with herself.

“Yeah, alright. I have no idea what I’ll dare you to do anyway,” she shrugged.

“You could dare me to make out with the hottest person in the room,” Anna suggested with a grin.

“Yeah, okay,” Ruby snorted. “So you can run home with a guy? Then I’d have to go back to work.”

“It wouldn’t necessarily be a guy. I could run home with anyone if I wanted to.”

“Great, now there’s an even better chance that I’ll have to go back to work. Do you know how boring being a drug dealer is sometimes?”

It made Anna laugh and Ruby joined in along with her.  For something that had meant to be reconnaissance, Ruby was having a good time. Even if the two of them stayed where they were and continued to work through their bottles of booze and Ruby never did come up with a dare for Anna. The game was lost to their laughter.

Ruby tried not to wonder when the last time she’d laughed so much with someone at the bar. She pushed that to the back of her mind and tried to make sure she was cataloguing the things Anna said that could be useful in bringing the Miltons down. If she lost the thread of that sometimes, she told herself it was natural.


	5. Chapter 5

Anna was putting on a show of doing her homework for Charlie’s benefit and she wasn’t sure whether or not it was working. She wanted to concentrate on her Latin homework, she really did, but she couldn’t care about her conjugation of the pluperfect when she had other things on her mind.

“Charlie.”

“Hmm?” Charlie said, pencil clenched between her teeth as she typed. She’d tried to explain to Anna what exactly she was working on, but Anna hadn’t been able to follow it. Something about the theories of dimension jumping.

“Are you really involved in your work right now?”

“Not that you’d notice.”

There was a beat of silence in the apartment. Charlie’s typing soon punctuated it. Anna flipped a page in her book, not really sure what vocabulary she was supposed to have gotten from the one she’d been on. She looked up again.

“How about now?”

Charlie let out a bark of laughter and then sighed. She turned away from her computer and made a show of putting her chin in her hands to listen to Anna. “You clearly aren’t going to let me get any work done if I don’t listen to you.”

She had a smile on her face and Anna returned it. It faded into a look of seriousness and shyness.

“Have you ever known someone for a while and then suddenly seen them in a whole new light?”

Charlie arched her eyebrow in shock and Anna looked puzzled. Then Charlie smirked. “Anna, I love you, but only as a friend. I can’t help it if I’ve got it going on.”

“Oh my god,” Anna snorted. She started to laugh, hard, and Charlie couldn’t help but do so as well. “That isn’t how I meant for that to come out at all!”

The two of them couldn’t contain their laughter; Anna felt tears forming in her eyes from it and she had to wipe them away before she could continue on.

“I didn’t even mean in a romantic, sexual way.”

“Why don’t you explain instead of asking me if I’ve done something. We both know that if I’m at a comic-con, I’ve probably done it.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “So have I ever told you about any of the people who come to my parents’ house for those parties they seem to love to throw?”

“Other than there’s a bunch of rich people you don’t really give a shit about, no.”

“There are a couple families that have kids who come with‒”

“Like, kids, kids? Because that seems weird. Why‒”

“No, I mean people around our age.” Charlie nodded in understanding at the correction. “There’s one girl, her name is Ruby. She and I haven’t ever really hung out or gotten along. My parents don’t really like hers‒” Anna held up a hand to forestall Charlie’s question‒ “but they have to be invited because of their social standing.”

“Rich people are weird,” Charlie mumbled. Anna shrugged.

“She’s always seemed sort of like a bitch to me. But this time…” Anna went on to explain everything that had happened with Ruby since her parents’ party. Charlie looked just as mystified as Anna felt about the whole thing, and she was absolutely shocked when Anna told her that she’d revealed the fact that she’d had an abortion.

“It just slipped out. I was so gone off that Molly,” Anna protested.

“Anyway, go on,” Charlie told her, waving it off.

Anna did, finishing with “and now I sort of want to see her again?”

“So, see her again,” Charlie said without missing a beat. “Just because she used to be a bitch doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends now. Everybody deserves a chance to change, Anna.”

If there was anything pointed in Charlie’s glance, Anna either missed it or chose to ignore it because she didn’t say anything. She just nodded slowly.

“I don’t suppose this girl’s attractive at all and that’s why you’re feeling like this?” Charlie asked knowingly. Anna had the grace to blush a little.

“Even when I thought she was a bitch I knew she was beautiful,” Anna admitted. That got Charlie to laugh again. “But it isn’t about that!”

Charlie made a show of stopping her laughter and trying to take Anna seriously. Anna twirled a lock of hair around her fingers and chewed at her lip a little.

“Spit it out.”

With a grimace, Anna went on. “How do I know I didn’t make an ass of myself the other night?”

Charlie didn’t have to feign her shock at all; she’d never heard Anna fret about the behavior she’d displayed while partying before. In all the years that they’d been friends, she’d never heard an ounce of regret in her voice and now it was heavy with worry.

Charlie made to respond, but Anna continued on.

“And I can’t just call her. I’ll try to find her, I think. She seems like the type to be in the library or something a lot.”

Now Charlie was even more confused‒ Anna, as a rule, didn’t do the library. But before she could comment Anna jumped up as though she’d been scalded and grabbed at her pocket. She fished her phone out and groaned.

“Sorry, if I don’t pick up for my mom, she’s liable to send one of the valets out here to check on me or something.”

Anna sent an apologetic smile to Charlie and missed that she sent a concerned expression back at her.

***

“Hello, Mother,” Anna said, trying to keep from sighing.

“Well don’t sound so miserable about it, Anna,’ Naomi told her in an uncharacteristically joking tone. Anna wasn’t sure how to respond to it, and decided against saying anything. The silence that ensued was awkward and Anna bit her lip.

Finally she asked, “Is there something you needed?”

“Oh, no,” Naomi said. Her voice was light and it still threw Anna off. “I just wanted to see how you are. Wanted to remind you that your classes this year are very important.”

Though Naomi couldn’t see her, but Anna still rolled her eyes. “I know.”

“It doesn’t seem that you do sometimes, Anna,” Naomi shot back. It wasn’t anything Anna hadn’t heard before, but she still grimaced. Naomi cleared her throat. “Have you been going to all of your classes?”

“Mostly,” Anna said, only half-lying. It was clear from the tone of Naomi’s answering ‘mmhmm’ that she didn’t believe her daughter at all. Annoyed, Anna went on, “Is that all you wanted?”

“Can a mother not call her daughter and see how she is? Is it such a chore that I’ve called you? Do you have other things you should be doing that I’m taking you away from?”

“No, mother,” Anna said, rubbing her forehead with her freehand.

“Well, good, I’d hate to be a bother.” The sarcasm was thick and Anna could picture her mother’s face, pursed and frustrated. Anna desperately wanted to repeat her earlier question, but she waited in silence instead. Naomi spoke and ended her daughter’s waiting. “I also wanted to advise you to keep your head down.”

It was the last thing Anna had expected. She didn’t even get the chance to ask about it before Naomi went on though.

“”I would say specifically that you ought to stay away from Ruby Morgenstern.”

That sentence threw Anna for an absolute loop. “What?”

Naomi sighed. It sounded even more annoyed through the phone than it would have in person.

“I thought we were friends with the Morgensterns.” Anna didn’t mention how it was patently obvious to everyone who had ever seen the two families interact that it was all a show.

“Yes, well,” Naomi began.  She cleared her throat. “Some things are happening where it might be best if you stayed away from them.”

_Way to be cryptic, mom._

“Sure,” Anna said. She had a scowl on her face as she did. “Anything else?”

Naomi tutted. “You could come home for dinner more often you know.”

“I’m just really busy.” After a moment, Anna emphasized that. “Seriously. Very busy.”

“Come home this weekend for dinner.”

It wasn’t a request, but a command, one that Anna couldn’t help but agree to.

“Good, be here Sunday at 4 and we’ll have Marianne make chicken parmesan the way you like.”

Anna agreed thinking that even if the dinner itself would be brutal, at least the food would be better than anything she or Charlie could make.

***

Anna arrived at her family home at 4:45, knowing that dinner, as always, wouldn’t be served until 5. Just because her mother had said be there at 4 didn’t make it any different. She’d put on slacks and a button down top and looked nicer than she had in weeks, going so far as to put some natural looking makeup on. It didn’t matter though; her mother was still annoyed when she answered the door herself.

“Well, we’d just about given up on you actually being here.”

Anns shrugged in apology and stepped into the foyer.  She made to slip her heels off and stopped at the way Naomi shook her head. She slunk behind her mother as they headed to the dining room. It looked much emptier without an entire party‒ emptier and sadder. But Anna sat next to her mother as she was told to.

“Velma, could I have a glass of wine, please?” Anna asked the maid who came in to refill the water glasses. Anna weighed the pros and cons of shouting at her mother for asking the staff to stay on just for this on a Sunday but thought better of it.

“Velma, Anna needs to drive back to school later, so she’ll be just fine with water,” Naomi said as Velma nodded and headed back toward the kitchen door. Velma nodded more vigorously and Anna tried not to shoot a look of utter annoyance at her mother. Naomi, for her part, looked as though she’d done nothing wrong. She turned a smile on her daughter.

“Your father and I were in the middle of a conversation; I hope you don’t mind if we continue it.”

Anna made a noncommittal sound and gulped from her water. Her parents resumed their conversation. She was already only half-listening, thinking about how hungry she was, but it was hard for her not to hear a few words.

“‒ ‘Lucifer’ Morgenstern—“

“Don’t let anyone hear you call him that—“

Naomi waved a hand, “Everyone does. Everyone knows it.”

“Still,” Michael said and sipped his wine. He set the glass back down lightly. “With all that’s happening, it’d be best to act as though that’s not the case.”

Naomi nodded in her agreement.

Anna couldn’t help but ask, “What all’s happening?’

Naomi waved a hand again and smiled gently. “Oh, nothing for you to worry about, dear. It will just be better if you keep your distance from this and that family.”

“You told me that already,” Anna said. Her mother completely ignored her and turned back to Michael. Anna sighed under her breath.

“The problem is that even if this does do them in, it won’t ruin the network. Luci—excuse me, Nicholas, is only one man. His wife will still be there. Not to mention any competing families.”

“You mean like the Steins?”

“Yes, the Steins, who have been much harder to pin anything to—“ Naomi cut herself off as Velma came back into the dining room with their food. It looked as delicious as Marianne’s cooking always was, and Anna almost wanted to get up from the table and go run and hug her. No matter how awful and childlike a conversation at her parents’ dinner might make her feel, at least the food would be dependable.

All three of the Miltons gave Velma kind smiles and thanks as she served them. Velma gave a wink to Anna as she set her plate in front of her and Anna was puzzled. Velma wouldn’t catch her eye again, though. Instead, she turned back to her parents and waited for the conversation to go on. She might now have known exactly what it was about, but if she were going to try to be friends with Ruby, which she was no matter what her mother’s warnings were, she wanted to know where they were supposed to stand with each other.

Anna wanted to know exactly what social rules she was ignoring.

Naomi waited until the door to the kitchen was closed to go on. “But Cain and his network as well.” She cut into her chicken primly and took her first bite. Anna had already cut the entire chicken breast into pieces. “Anna, how many times have we gone over that you’re supposed to cut one piece at a time?”

“Even though it is just us, it’s a good habit to get into,” Michael agreed.

Anna murmured an apology and continued to eat.

Anna’s misbehavior forgotten already, Michael spoke again.

“No one knows what will happen now. For all we know this could be like the last time—“

“That was 13 years ago. Surely something’s happened.”

“We don’t know, Naomi. We won’t know until trial—“

“Who’s on trial?” Anna asked around a mouthful of food. Her mother looked annoyed at her and she swallowed and repeated herself. “Excuse me, but who is on trial? Ruby’s father?”

“No one is on trial yet,” Michael answered at the same time as Naomi asked, “since when is he Ruby’s father and not Nicholas Morgenstern?”

Anna colored pink. “You’d been talking about Ruby to me,” she told her. Naomi nodded in understanding and Anna inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Michael and Naomi shared a look over their food and then Naomi schooled her face into a polite expression.

“Your father and I are sorry about all that, Anna. It’s not good to discuss the details of a case that’s forming with someone of our social circle with our daughter. Forgive us.”

“I just want to know who’s going on trial. Nicholas Morgenstern? For what?”

“Don’t fret about it, Anna,” Michael said. He smiled at his daughter and used his fork to point at her. “Why don’t you tell us about school? How are classes going?”

Anna knew that no matter how she asked, she wasn’t going to get an answer to her question. So she took another drink of water and a bite of her food and prepared to lie about how well her law classes were going.

The conversation devolved into Michael and Naomi reminiscing about their own college days and meeting in law school and Anna was bored stiff by the stories she’d heard a hundred times already. Velma had come back in and taken their plates away and Anna was preparing to watch enviously as her parents drank glasses of port.

Velma opened the kitchen door and instead of a tray with two port glasses and yet another water, she carried two martini glasses and a chocolate milkshake.

“Since Miss Anna has to return to school, I thought a sweet desert for all of you might be nice. Chocolate martinis for Mr. and Mrs. Milton and a Milkshake for you, Anna.”

Anna beamed up at Velma while her parents looked shocked by the change in routine. When Velma set the shake in front of her, Anna laid a hand on her wrist. “You’re sweet. Thank you.”

Velma smiled back and Anna wondered what it said about her that the people who seemed to be the nicest to her in the house were only the people not related to her.

Her parents barely touched the martinis as Anna slurped at her shake, and they talked about the upkeep of the stables and the gardens and Anna couldn’t care less because she was lost in the taste she was gorging herself on.

By the time Anna could get away and get back into her car, she was full to bursting with delicious food, but she still had no idea of any of the details about the Morgensterns. What she had heard wasn’t going to make her less likely to seek Ruby out. In fact, she couldn’t wait to see her again.     


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby answered her phone with a desperate “What is it?” as soon as she saw it was her step mother calling her; the two of them made it a point not to have to address each other more than necessary.

“Your father’s been arrested.” Abaddon’s voice was flat as she said it and Ruby’s heart rate spiked. She’d heard those words once before, from her mother’s mouth when she was barely seven years old. She hadn’t understood exactly what it meant then, but she’d known enough to start crying until Eve had shushed her with a hand on her face and a look that belied gentleness. Now, it was a sentence that somewhere in the back of her mind she had been expecting to hear again since that day. Her voice remained calm, despite her pulse thundering in her own ear.

“What for? What’s bail?”

“The lawyers should be with him now, getting the exact charges. Whatever bail is, it’ll be posted. I just thought you should know.”

Ruby huffed a breath through her nose. That had answered neither of her questions at all and she pursed her lips in annoyance at Abaddon’s deliberate evasion.

“Well, thanks, _Mom_ ,” she said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. She ran her free hand through her dark hair. “Let me know when he gets home. I’ll find out the details from him.”

Abaddon muttered something under her breath that came out as a muffled growl and a smirk tugged on Ruby’s lips.

“What was that?”

“I said that you don’t have to be quite so tetchy, darling girl. I’m telling you what I know. What you need to know.” Abaddon paused and Ruby almost hung up. “I’ll contact you when he’s home. Make sure you go to class in the meantime, hmm? Your father would be appalled if you didn’t. And make sure you’re where you’re supposed to be this weekend. This is temporary.”

Ruby didn’t get the chance to hang up, because her stepmother had done it first.

“Fuck,” Ruby swore quietly and she shoved her phone back into her pocket. She shrugged her bag higher up onto her shoulder and headed toward the library. She had a test in her Entrepreneurship class in two hours and she had no idea if she would be able to study for it then, but she would try.

She’d just found an empty table and claimed it by letting her notebooks spread everywhere as her bag spilled open, when she heard someone call her name. She looked up from her cup of coffee and saw a splash of red hair. It was Anna.  She was fast approaching with a textbook and a notebook in her hand; she carried no bag.

“Hey, Milton,” Ruby said, trying to keep it from being a sigh. Anna smiled.

“I had a really good time the other night. Thank you so much for it,” Anna said. An embarrassed smile split her face as she went on, “again.”

“Don’t mention it,” Ruby brushed off. She sat down and opened one of the notebooks. Anna was still standing on the other side of the table, shifting on her feet. Ruby turned to her notes.

“What are you studying for?” Anna asked with genuine curiosity in her voice.

“Test in my next class. It’s about starting your own business and the hoops you’d have to jump through to do that.” Ruby didn’t take her eyes off her notes as she replied. She could still feel the awkwardness radiating off of Anna. “Look, Milton, if you can stay quiet so we can both study, go ahead and sit down, alright?

Anna didn’t need any more of invitation before she pulled the chair out with a scrape and sat. She plopped her text book onto the table and Ruby held back from rolling her eyes.

“Do you have a pen?” Ruby nodded at the question and gestured to her bag, not asking why anyone would bother coming to the library without one, but concentrating on tuning Anna’s presence out as much as necessary. Somehow, Anna’s seeming inability to sit still helped Ruby focus. Anna tapped her pen against her paper and twisted her hair in her fingers, but it was just enough noise to keep Ruby’s mind on the task at hand and not on her father. She didn’t understand how it was conducive to Anna studying at all, but she wasn’t going to question it.

 It had been almost an hour before Anna spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

Ruby leaned back in her chair, taking it as an excuse to look away from her own cramped handwriting. She jerked her chin in indication for Anna to go on.

“Did you have a good time the other night?”

Ruby’s brow furrowed and she responded before she could even think about it. “Of course.” When she did think about it, partly because of Anna’s skeptical look, she found that it was true. She had actually had a pretty decent time with Anna. She’d had a lot more fun than she usually did when she was at a club; most of the time it was work. “Yeah. Milton, I really did have a good time.”

Anna’s smile was soft. “I’m glad.”

“Why’d do you ask?” Ruby glanced at the clock on the wall behind her by tilting her head back. “And don’t drag it out. I do eventually have to head across campus.”

“I just know I can get obnoxious when I’m like that,” Anna shrugged. “I’m not really used to seeing anyone again after a night like that. I’m usually with strangers.”

If Ruby didn’t have a foot in the door of the business she did, or if she and Anna were better friends, a confession like that one would have warranted a warning, but as it was, Ruby just let an eyebrow bounce up in question briefly.

“You’re hardly the worst I’ve seen,” Ruby told her, voice light.

Anna twisted her hair tighter than she had been and let it twirl loose before she spoke up. “Do you think we could hang out again some time?”

“Don’t seem so nervous,” Ruby smirked, “or I’ll think you only want to be friends for the drug connections.”

“Well, they don’t hurt,” Anna told her, a sly smile on her face. It made Ruby laugh louder than she ever had in the library and that made Anna grin.

“Yeah, we can hang out again.” Ruby wasn’t sure that she wasn’t saying it because of the laugh and the relative comfort she’d felt sitting there studying with the girl when she should have been saying it for other reasons. It took her a moment to remember why she’d hung out with her the other night in the first place and then she was glad for Anna’s desire to be friends for a totally different reason.

“You’ve got my number from before, right?” Ruby asked. Anna nodded and Ruby went on. “Okay, then go ahead and shoot me a text or something next time you’re bored some weekend night. As long as you let me study for another twenty minutes and don’t pout when I leave.”

Anna nodded and smiled as she drew an X over her heart with her finger. Ruby didn’t want to smile at the juvenile gesture, but one crossed her features anyway.

When the twenty minutes were up and Ruby had packed up her things, Anna tried to hand her the pen back. Ruby waved her off and got a “good luck” in return.

It wasn’t until Ruby was walking into her classroom that she realized she hadn’t thought about her father’s arrest the whole time she’d been there, and it was mostly thanks to Anna.  When she’d flown through her test questions and turned the paper in, her mind wandered to her father. Even if Anna was sweet, if a little reckless, Ruby knew that watching the Miltons get dragged into the spotlight for something bad would cheer her father up in this situation. Just knowing that strengthened Ruby’s conviction to see how far she could push this ruse. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt that it’d probably be fun for her, too.

*

Meg had waltzed into Ruby’s apartment with a bottle of Malbec for her and a bottle of whiskey for herself and plopped down onto the couch without any explanation whatsoever. She’d practically sucker-punched Ruby in the stomach with the bottle of wine on her way to sit and she had her hand on the top of her Jack, twisting it off when Ruby cleared her throat. Meg’s eyebrows rose expectantly.

“What? A 10 buck bottle of Malbec not good enough for you now? When’d you become an actual snob?”

“Well hello to you too, Meg,” Ruby said with a little bit of a sneer. “And no, it’s fine‒” Meg’s smug grin was so blinding that Ruby sighed in the middle of her sentence. “But what are you doing here?”

Meg shrugged. “I heard the big boss man got arrested and I figured you’d be in such a snit about it that you might want some company. Or at least some alcohol.”

“I’m not in a snit,” Ruby protested. Meg just cocked an eyebrow. “I’m not! Even if I were, I’d have the right to be. My father got arrested, you know. He’s not just my boss.”

With a swig of her whiskey, Meg acceded the point Ruby was trying to make. She took a second swig immediately and Ruby turned on her heel to get a corkscrew. She was in the kitchen when Meg spoke again.

“You’d have a right to be, yeah,” Meg admitted. There was a pause before, “But you still have to do your job. That’s what I was told when they picked up my father the last time. He was away for 4 years and I never got time to freak out. I was only 16. And it was your father who told me I couldn’t freak out.”

Ruby held a mostly full glass is one hand and stared at Meg when she got back into the doorway of the living room. She padded across to sit on the couch and didn’t say anything for a moment. She took a sip of her wine.

 “You’re sort of a bitch, you know that, Meg?” Her voice was free of emotion as she said it. Meg laughed.

“You’re mad it’s what you needed to hear. This is a dangerous business and your father knew the risks, and he’ll get from under the law’s slutty thumb any day now. So shut up and drink your wine and tell me about anything that happened at the club last night.”

Ruby then made a show of inspecting the wine as though it were a vintage and not a bottle from Walgreens. Meg rolled her eyes, hard. Ruby smiled a little and drained the whole glass is two gulps.

“I’m gonna top myself off, so hold that thought.”

Meg’s annoyance was etched into her face, but Ruby didn’t care; the fact that someone had walked in there unannounced annoyed her as well, so Meg could deal with it. She held back the smirk she wanted to wear as she returned back to the living room. 

“You ever met Anna Milton?”

“I might have. I know who she is either way. Rich kid, parents are with the law. Heard she’s kind of a fuck up.”

Ruby made a noise that sounded like it was covering a laugh. "She likes to party. Saw her doing a line of crushed Vicodin at her parents’ last party."

"Oh because I'm sure her life is really hard," Meg sneered. Ruby shrugged.

"Hey, if we didn't have a bunch of rich kids who wanted to spend their parents’ money on killing themselves to have a good time, we would be out of business, so I'm not mad about it."

Meg smiled and raised her bottle in a toast at that.

"Anyway, she was at the club the other night. She got dragged into the back by Alistair."

Meg laughed cruelly. "I can't believe that man hasn't been arrested." She paused and shot an apologetic look at Ruby. "Sorry."

Ruby waved her off and went on. "Point is, I ended up hanging out with her. Girl can drink. And she was on Molly."

Meg gave a whistle and took another swig from her bottle, though it was much smaller than it had been before. Ruby sipped her wine and curled her feet under her on the couch. She wasn't sure why she didn't tell Meg about the fact that she couldn't pay, or even why she told her that she'd spent time with Anna.

"So why'd you end up drinking with her?" Ruby had almost hoped Meg wouldn't ask. She shrugged and Meg shook her head. "Clearly you need more friends, Morgenstern. Slumming it with the good guys?" She clicked her tongue and Ruby stuck hers out.

"Just because I help my father deal drugs doesn't mean I'm not one of the good guys."

"You sure?" Meg asked with an arched eyebrow.

Ruby threw the small pillow she had next to her at Meg and Meg cracked a grin.

"Anyway, how are things going for you? Tricks good?"

Meg scoffed, "Shut up." She was still smiling though. "But yeah, things are good. The girls your father brought in last time are good at what they do. Some of them, at least. I can't tell you where we're shopping the finished products around-"

"Oh, we’re doing porn again? It's not escorting?"

"We gave them a choice. Some of them even wound up on your end. That girl Salome?"

Ruby nodded. "I’d wondered where she came from."

"But it's raunchy stuff they're doing. Hot. In a fucked up way of course."

"Is there any other way?"

Neither could tell how much the other was posturing. Ruby sometimes wondered if Meg really was so fucked up that she didn't mind working the human trafficking side of the Morgenstern business or if she hid it because that's what she had to do. When Meg's father had been arrested, Nicholas had given Meg the choice on how to pay off the debt Azazel had accrued and Meg hadn't hesitated to take his spot. She's started running sex work relations at 16 years old. She'd hardened even more since then, her laugh meaner and her eyes fierier.

Ruby drank her wine quietly after that, letting Meg tell her all about the latest fuck ups from the people in her world. She still wasn't sure what had made Meg come to her, but then again, it was hard to remember that Meg was also just a 21 year old girl who maybe needed to feel a sense of normalcy as well. It had to be hard to do for her just like it sometimes was for Ruby. Ruby let her talk and even laughed with her at the appropriate times. It was almost as though things had never changed between them and they could still say they were friends. For a moment, Ruby wished it were true.

*

Ruby had left in the middle of her class when she got the text from her stepmother that simply read “ _He’s home.”_ Luckily her grade in the class let her give an apologetic glance to the professor without consequences and she’d prayed that no cops were out between campus and the house. Someone must have been listening and she pulled into the driveway in record time.

She didn’t bother stopping anywhere else, just headed straight for where she knew her father would be. Her footsteps echoed down the hallways, not like they did at the Miltons, but it still sounded loud to her ears. She studied the walls on her way to her father’s study and noted the stark difference between that walk and the exploratory one she’d taken before she’d found Anna. The molding of the baseboards and the crown work were the only decorations and rather than gray, the walls were a marbleized pale blue, a color Nicholas hadn’t changed after Eve had died, though he’d renovated most of the house that had her feel to it. It felt just as cold as the Milton’s house did, though for Ruby it screamed home, reminding her of skipping to see her father work when she was little and fascinated by what he did all day while making business deals.

The door was closed and Ruby gave a soft knock, hoping it would creak open at the touch. It didn’t budge but she heard her father’s voice say “Come in.”

He wasn’t alone. Ruby’s step-mother sat half perched on his desk and she turned with a raised eyebrow to see who’d entered. Her face fell to neutral when she saw it was Ruby and Ruby’s expression changed little at her presence as well. What did change Ruby’s expression was the presence of the other woman in the room; Casey Dawson had been with the Morgenstern’s business since she was a child, the same way Meg had. Unlike Meg though, she’d never felt any sense of obligation, just a fierce loyalty and belief in what her father did. Human vice was something to be cultivated and explored and used when it could be for Casey, but she also believed in the very legitimate business of the Morningstar Tech company as well. Ruby’d always found her fascinating and they were generally friendly with each other, if not close. Casey was hard to connect with on any significant level, like most people Ruby knew, really.

Casey gave Ruby a small smile‒ even hard to connect to, Ruby’d always recognized she was a beautiful girl‒ and Ruby couldn’t help but smile back. Nicholas watched the interaction with cool eyes.

“Hello, love,” he said to Ruby. She gave him a full smile.

“Hello, father.”

Abigail leaned down and kissed him on the cheek and headed to leave. She nodded at Casey before jerking her head to the side so she would follow. Casey tuned to Nicholas with a “Thank you, sir” and moved toward the door. She stopped a little in front of Ruby and met her eye.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice quiet, and it felt bizarre to Ruby. What in the world could she be apologizing for? As Ruby approached her father’s desk, she still had a puzzled frown on her face. Nicholas mirrored the expression as he rose to embrace his daughter and that smoothed the lines from Ruby’s face.

“I’m glad you’re home.”

“I am too. Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

Ruby twisted her lips in faux-annoyance. “I’ve got an A in that class, I think I’m alright missing half of one session.”

Nicholas smirked. “I’m glad it’s only one session. I wouldn’t want you picking up other people’s bad habits.”

Ruby made the decision to ignore that and concentrate on what she really wanted to know. She’d keep it in the back of her mind.

“What were the charges?”

“Right to business? You don’t want to tell your father all about your social life? New friends?”

“What?” Ruby wrinkled her nose in confusion. “No offense, but why would that be what I wanted to talk about? You just got home from being arrested. I’m more concerned about that.”

Nicholas waved a hand and perched on his desk, much like his wife had earlier. His arms crossed over his chest and he crossed his ankles out in front of him. “The charges are a trumped up tax evasion technicality charge. They have nothing real and they know it and wanted to make time to find something real. Of course, they won’t. Just like they never have. I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either. Not about that, at least.”

“So what should I be worried about?” Ruby said, finally biting at all the hints her father had given her. She crossed her arms as well, unconsciously mirror her father.

He smiled, a cruel teasing smile that Ruby was only used to seeing on his face when he dealt with people on the wrong side of him. She didn’t know whether or not he even knew he was doing it to his own daughter.

“You should be concerned with the company you’re keeping.”

“Who? Meg?”

“No,” Nicholas said.

“Because she’s the only‒ oh.” Ruby’s face fell a little bit, the anger draining from her expression. “You mean Anna Milton.”

“Yes, I do mean Anna Milton,” he nodded.

“How’d you know?”

“Casey told me that it was information I might like to have and she was right.” Casey’s apology made sense to Ruby then.

“Dad‒”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Ruby, because I do. You’re a good daughter and you work hard, but I do find it strange that days before I’m arrested you’re spotted with the daughter of one of the most prominent law families in the area. A law family who patently does not believe that I am on the right side of the law. A law family who has always made it very clear that they do not like any of us.”

Ruby was shaking her head. “Dad, you don’t think I would have done something or said something to Anna that would have gotten you arrested do you? I mean, why would you think that? Why would I do that?” she paused in her speech. She wasn’t quite sure she had even heard her father right if that was his accusation. “I mean, even if I hated you, I wouldn’t risk my own skin like that. Not like that.”

“That’s good to know,” Nicholas deadpanned. “I have two daughters whose self-preservation instincts trump family loyalty.”

“Daddy,” Ruby chanced, “that’s not what I said.” Nicholas didn’t respond and Ruby took a deep breath to go on. “I was with Anna at the club a few nights ago. I’m not denying that, but that definitely didn’t have anything to do with you getting arrested. Anna was too fucked up to have even thought of that, I’m sure.”

“Oh, so you went and got drunk with her?”

“I drank with her, yeah, but she was totally smashed before I even showed up. She got dragged into the back by Alistair.” At that, Nicholas’ eyebrow shot up in a shocked question. Ruby nodded with a smug smile at having caught her father off-guard, a rare feat, and at knowing he’d love this information. “Big fancy law family’s little girl is a huge druggie. She got Vicodin from Andy the weekend after the Milton’s party‒ which she was on at dinner, by the way‒ and she took Molly from Ansem at the club. Didn’t have the cash for it. She pleaded her case to me.”

“Really?” Nicholas said, a smirk forming on his face and a plan forming in his eye. Ruby was already ahead of him though.

“That’s why I went out into the club with her. She owes me. She owes us money, but she owes me more than that. And I made sure that people saw us at that club, because Anna Milton being spotted with a supposed criminal’s daughter would be a hell of a scandal, don’t you think? Especially an Anna Milton who could possibly be caught with drugs on her?”

Nicholas looked proud, his chin raised in admiration of his daughter. Ruby couldn’t help but smile even though a niggling voice in the back of her head asked why she hadn’t told him the secret that she’d revealed that night.

“When did you think of all this?”

“When I caught her snorting pills up her nose before dinner,” Ruby shrugged. It was only fudging the timeline a little bit, and besides, the way her father’s face lit up at it and the way he let out an honest to goodness laugh made it worth it.

He held out an arm and Ruby gave him another quick hug. It was more outward affection than they’d shared in a long time.

“You’re going to be so good at running this business if you have to.”

“If? I’m going to be the best of those sons of bitches, there is no if,” Ruby told him, only half joking.

That got another roar of laughter out of Nicholas and he stood from his desk to sit back down in the chair behind it. He steepled his fingers together and nodded that Ruby should sit as well.

“I want to have a normal conversation with my daughter, but I have one more order of business to discuss with you.”

Ruby nodded patiently for her father to continue.

“Tammi will be in an out of the house for the next few months or so. She’s acting as Aster while she’s currently…indisposed,” Nicholas said. Ruby tried not to let her face reveal any expression other than understanding.

Tammi and Ruby hadn’t had to see each other since Tammi’d broken Ruby’s heart, not even in a legitimate business capacity. Ruby had been grateful for that, but never more than at that moment. If Tammi caught wind of what Ruby was doing with Anna, it would prove everything she’d said about Ruby when she’d dumped her was wrong. With this scheme, Ruby could prove to the older woman that she wasn’t just a child playing with power she didn’t understand, but that she was a playmaker for the Morgenstern family.

Of course, Nicholas had no idea that these cogs were going on in his daughter’s head and he smiled.

“Now, tell me about school. What’s the most useful thing you’ve been doing?”

It was easy to fall into conversation with her father, knowing that the high of his pride would last her for the rest of the night at least. She felt so good she decided that the next time she saw Casey, she would let her know that she was forgiven. Even the slightly dry pot roast that their cook prepared for the night tasted better because of the glow that stayed with Ruby long after she left her father’s study.

It made it even sweeter when she got a text from Anna that read _hang out this weekend?_

She typed _sure_ with a smile on her face.


	7. Chapter 7

Ruby hated to admit it, but even without being on anything, Anna was actually sort of fun to hang out with. That second weekend, she’d admitted that she’d never seen any of the Godzilla movies and immediately decided that she wanted to know what it would be like to watch as many of them as possible in a row. Ruby had fallen asleep after three, but Anna had apparently stayed strong long enough to go a little bit loopy. When Ruby’d woken up, Anna’s eyes were glazed as though she had taken something, though she’d assured Ruby she hadn’t.

Anna put M&Ms in her popcorn and she ate it in excess, and she found a sheer enjoyment in watching the world play out on the screen. She grinned at Ruby every now and then and it made Ruby laugh. They were still watching Godzilla films when Charlie came back to the apartment from having been at some comic convention for the past two days.

Anna was hanging her head over the arm of the couch and her face was reddening as the blood rushed to it. She’d thrown her feet into Ruby’s lap without hesitation and when Ruby hadn’t thrown them off, she took it as a good sign. She sat up as Charlie walked in.

“How was the con?”

“Good,” Charlie said with an absent nod. She was looking at Ruby confused, and that seemed to puzzle Anna. Charlie waved a hand in Ruby’s direction as a question.

“Oh! This is my friend Ruby. Ruby, my roommate, Charlie.”

“Hey,” Ruby said, not paying very much attention.

“Thanks for the obvious introduction, Anna,” Charlie began. Anna rolled her eyes.

“Our parents know each other. We’ve known each other a long time.”

Charlie took that at face value and Anna scooted to the middle of the couch as Charlie approached. She sat on the end and the three of them were pressed together. Ruby squirmed but it went unnoticed.

“What are we watching?”

“God, nothing else, I hope. This Godzilla is just ending and I know you were like going for a record or something, Anna, but 4 movies without a break is enough for me.”

“She’s only gotten through 4?” Charlie snorted and she and Anna shared a look. Ruby turned a glare on the two of them.

“Fine, put on another one,” Ruby protested.

She pretended she didn’t see the smug glance they shared as the opening credits came on.

Charlie, as it turned out, was very cool. Ruby wouldn’t exactly say it out loud, but she could tell that she liked the girl within half an hour; they could easily be friends. She also made Anna even funnier. Ruby felt like she missed most of the movie, and she knew Anna did because of the running commentary the two of them had going on. Ruby clutched at her stomach as the credits rolled.

“Okay, now really, I need a break. No more movies.” Ruby ran a hand over her eyes. “Anything that doesn’t require a screen.”

“Take me shooting?”

Both Ruby and Charlie turned to look at Anna in shock.

“Um, that might not be a great idea at this second? I will tomorrow though?”

“Okay,” Anna agreed brightly. “I’m going skydiving in the morning though, so how late is the firing range open?”

Ruby laughed and patted Anna’s knee, preparing to get up and stretch and then be on her way.

“I’m serious. What time is it open until?”

“Skydiving? Who the hell are you jumping out of an airplane with?” Ruby demanded, not caring that she sounded like someone’s mother to Anna’s ears.

“Some friends from class,” she dismissed. “It sounds like fun. Shooting range?”

Ruby opened her mouth to say something about skydiving but saw Charlie shake her head; she’d known the girl for less than two hours, but it seemed like she should listen to her. “It’s open until 6. Meet at 2?”

“And we’ll get lunch beforehand?” Anna asked, a smile on her face. Ruby couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto her face as she nodded. She grabbed her keys from the table where she’d left them and she was out the door with nary a goodbye.

Ruby left, and Anna proceeded to fall asleep within 15 minutes. Charlie shook her head and laid a blanket over her, getting up to get some work done in her room without disturbing her friend.

*

Anna was still on an adrenaline high when Ruby showed up to get her. She couldn’t stop smiling and when she slid into Ruby’s car, she couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing either. Ruby had barely turned to her to speak when she started to talk.

“Oh my god, skydiving was so much fun. This place was like an hour away outside of town and you could see everything from so high up it was spectacular. I could see the college but who cares about that when you could look at the landscape from so high up right? I mean, even if there’s not a ton going on, from the sky it looks awesome. Just knowing that this is a totally new perspective. Think about how many people have gotten to see that. I mean, the skydiving place gets business, yeah, but‒”

“I’m glad you had fun, Milton. But slow down, would you? I’m not going anywhere and the range is half hour away.”

Ruby was smiling as she said it so Anna’s blush didn’t last very long.

“Can we open the sunroof?” Anna asked, interrupting her own train of thought as she was waxing on about the rush of that moment before they pulled the parachute. Even Ruby, who had never had any desire to risk her life for any sort of adrenaline rush, especially when she was already in such a dangerous business, found some appeal in the idea of skydiving with the way Anna was gushing about it. Ruby laughed at Anna’s abrupt change of topic.

“Sure? I would have figured you were one of those girls whose parents bought her a convertible when she turned 16 because she begged for it.”

Anna snorted and began to laugh derisively. “Yeah, right. That would be actual fun and there’s no way my parents would have allowed that to happen.”

Ruby sent a sharp look over at Anna.

“And it’d mean I’d have gotten what I wanted. That was pretty rare too.” Before Ruby could even arch her eyebrow like she wanted to, Anna was going on and clarifying. “That maybe isn’t fair. My parents just always have had a plan they want me to follow. And a convertible would not have been part of that plan. My sensible little four-door was part of their plan. And it’s fine. I guess a lot of kids don’t get a car at all.”

Then it was Ruby’s turn to snort.

“I don’t think we get to compare ourselves to a lot of kids, considering.”

“Yeah probably not,” Anna agreed. She reached and turned up the radio. Her smile when she turned to Ruby was bright and beautiful; she looked as though she were just as happy riding in the car with the music up and the windows down, her hair whipping back and forth, as she had been skydiving. Ruby was struck by how alive Anna actually was; she’d never thought of the other girl like that, but now that she’d seen it, she couldn’t see her any other way.

Anna, on the other hand, could not see anyone but a collected woman completely in charge of her own life when she looked at Ruby. From her sleek ponytail and tailored leather jacket to the way her lip curled just so. Her eyebrows arched perfectly whether she was amused or confused and even when she’d been staring at crappy remade movies for hours on end, she still had something to say. Anna was impressed with her, where before she’d always thought of her as  sort of a bitch, if she were honest with herself. It amazed her what one night of drinking with a person could do for your relationship, because she suddenly wanted to be around Ruby all the time. She felt like Ruby would listen to her talk about anything. The evidence so far pointed that way at least. She liked it. It of course didn’t hurt that Ruby was also smoking hot with her controlled smirks and leather jacket.

She was somehow even hotter with a gun in her hands, Anna discovered when they got to the range after singing along to the radio for the rest of the ride there.

“Just watch me shoot first and then we’ll go over the basic stuff and then you can shoot,” Ruby had told her. Anna had nodded and watched as Ruby snapped her headphones onto her ears and readjusted her grip on her gun. Anna had noted the placement of her hands on the grip and on the trigger guard. She’d snapped her own headphones back on and watched as Ruby fired off her shots until the clip was empty. When she’d brought the target up to examine it, the two of them could see that Ruby was a very accurate shot‒ not perfect, but good enough that the bullets were generally clustered around the closest to center layer.

Anna wound up trying to breathe through the rush she felt when Ruby was flush against her trying to guide her hands and steady her arms.

“Make sure you keep your fingers around the guard until you’re absolutely ready to shoot,” Rubytold her, adjusting her grip. She kicked out Anna’s feet as well. “And keep steady for the recoil. It’s not a shotgun but there still is one, Milton.”

Anna nodded. She fired with Ruby’s breath on her neck and she knew that she was barely hitting the target but it felt amazing to have that power course through her arms while Ruby was at her back.

“You need some work,” Ruby told her when they looked at the target. “But not bad for a first timer.”

Anna beamed. “It felt awesome. Can I go again?”

Ruby nodded and showed Anna how to reload the target and the gun, taking much more time with the gun. Anna emptied it again, though her accuracy didn’t improve much.

“That’s fun,” she told Ruby, resting her headphones around her neck.

“It’s a useful skill to have,” Ruby shrugged, her eyes letting Anna know that it was more than that.

“Yeah and what a rush,” Anna told her, not playing along with her game. Ruby rolled her eyes. Anna was used to the sight at this point, and she wasn’t mad because every time it happened, Ruby looked amused still.

“C’mon. I’ll take you to dinner since we didn’t get lunch.” Anna didn’t need to be told twice and she was following Ruby as they cleared their area and headed back towards the car. Before the got in, Ruby spoke up again. “Did you want to practice more or was shooting enough? I mean‒”

“No,” Anna said, completely honest. “Just shooting was enough. If I wanted to get accurate I wouldn’t ask you to waste your time.”

“It wouldn’t be a waste. I like hanging out with you.”

Anna could see the shock Ruby had on her face for saying such a thing, but she wasn’t about to look that gift in the mouth.

“Can we go someplace with chocolate cake?”

“Only if they have French fries, too.”

“Of course!” Anna exclaimed. She liked the smile they exchanged and she wondered if this could last. It felt like it’d been a long time since she’d made friends with anyone that stuck. Or, friends with anyone she wanted to stick. Over dinner, where Ruby dipped her fries in her chocolate shake  and made sure that Anna tried it too, Anna was even more sure she wanted this to continue. Even when Ruby did get a little standoffish while Anna ate her chocolate cake, she snapped out of it on the ride back, so Anna didn’t question it. It’d been a good day.

*

“My friends keep wondering why I’m hanging out with you,” Ruby told her one day while they were grabbing lunch in the cafeteria. Anna had just finished convincing Ruby that they should sneak their food out to have a picnic on the quad. “And honestly, I think it might be shit like this that keeps me coming back.”

Anna laughed. “You don’t ever wanna break the rules for silly reasons? It’s fun to just do things, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that now,” Ruby said. Anna was ducking back through the doors, under the nose of the student worker, who honestly probably wouldn’t have cared anyway, and was taking great care not to spill the three drinks she’d gotten. Ruby followed her and her mouth twitched into a smile that matched Anna’s.

“So what do you tell your friends when they ask?”

Ruby just shrugged and Anna made sure not to let her smile falter. She saw an open area by one of the trees that littered the western edge of the quad and made a beeline for it. There was a game of ultimate Frisbee going on in the center of the green and a few students had books open, everyone enjoying what would most likely be the last day that they could get away without coats for the semester. The weather felt much nicer than it actually was and Anna was determined to enjoy it as much as she possibly could. She sat with her face upturned to the sun while Ruby slid into the shade of the tree and leaned her back against its trunk. It didn’t take long before Ruby shivered and scooted herself until she was next to Anna in the light.

“That was the first undignified movement I’ve ever seen you make,” Anna told her. Ruby scowled and elbowed her in the arm, which only set Anna off laughing.

“You know, if I didn’t actually like the school’s coleslaw so much, I’d dump this over your head right now.”

“Food fights are overrated,” Anna said with a snort.

“I’m glad you know that.”

Anna shrugged and the two of them ate in relative silence, though a very companionable one. Ruby had just taken a spoonful of the Jello salad Anna made her get when Anna spoke up.

“Do you want to go out tomorrow night?”

Ruby made a face and pushed the Jello away. Anna took the bowl off her tray and stuck her own spoon in it, taking a bite and making an exaggerated sound of pleasure. Ruby faked a retch and Anna smiled around her spoon.

“Out where?”

“I don’t care, a club. We could go dance. Do you dance?”

“I can, but I don’t much. But sure, let’s go out tomorrow.”

Anna beamed and kept herself from saying that it was a date. She wondered at the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach at that thought. She liked the feeling, even if she didn’t want to acknowledge what they meant.

*

Anna sagged in Ruby’s arms and her head rolled to the side. There was a sickening sound from her throat. Ruby tried to straighten her up the best that she could and it seemed to help Anna get steadier on her feet, though her head was still rolling.

“’m fine,” she mumbled out. “’m rully f’ne”

“I can’t even understand you, Milton, you’re not fine.” Ruby tried to keep her voice calm, but she wasn’t sure she succeeded.  Anna’s legs chose that moment to go out again and Ruby almost fell with her. “Come on, we’ve gotta get you to my apartment.”

Anna’s mouth was against Ruby’s neck and she felt more than she heard Anna’s slurred ‘okay.’

It was slow going, with Ruby half dragging Anna along the way to her apartment building. Every time she tried to walk on her own, she nearly tripped over her own feet and Ruby would have to catch her again. Her arms were limp when they wrapped around Ruby when the two of them took breaks at Anna’s request.

“I’m gon’ b’sick. ‘m gon’ b’sick.”

Ruby had barely moved out of the way when Anna let go of her and bent over. She didn’t stay upright for long and was on her hands and knees in the grass, retching. Ruby held her hair back just in time, but Anna’s heaves were so violent that hanks of it fell from Ruby’s hands and directly into the line of fire. Ruby grimaced. She had no idea how long she stood there, trying to keep Anna from face planting into her own sick or hurt herself even worse, but eventually the puking tapered off. Anna’s breathing was heavy and Ruby found herself rubbing her back.

“Breathe through it, Anna, you’ll be okay. We’ll get you some water. Possibly some aspirin in the morning.”

Ruby leaned down to take hold of Anna underneath her arms and she hauled her up onto her knees.

“Can do it,” Anna told her. Ruby let her go and watched her try to stand on her own. She wobbled as she did and Ruby wrapped a hand around her upper arm, too hard for comfort, she was sure.

“I know you can, but let me help you,” Ruby said, gentler than she’d been in a long time.

As they began their way back to the path to Ruby’s place, Anna wasn’t having as hard a time walking and her head was lighter. She was still nodding down every now and then, but she wasn’t lolling. Ruby counted it as a win considering. Her doorman didn’t even look askance as Ruby pulled Anna into the building and onto the elevator. Anna took the first opportunity to slump onto the wall.

“I still don’t feel well,” Anna moaned, the first half of her sentence running together to the point of unrecognizability.

“Well, wait until we’re not in an enclosed space to puke again, alright?” Ruby snapped. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the numbers lighting up, praying for them to reach 3 faster; now would not be the time for the elevator to stall and the elevator had a life of its own sometimes. She glanced back at Anna as the doors dinged open. Her face was a little green and Ruby’s hand flew out to grab her arm and yank her out of the elevator. Ruby pulled her keys from her pocket and jammed them into her lock, twisting her wrist like lightning to get Anna inside. She threw her in front of her and then pushed her to the left down the hallway to the bathroom.

“There’s hair ties in the first drawer on your left. Don’t puke in your hair!” Ruby called to her. She was already heading into her kitchen to look through her freezer. There wasn’t much in there‒ Ruby, as a rule didn’t cook‒ but there was a bag or two of frozen French fries and Ruby pulled them out and went to the oven. She listened for the sounds of Anna being sick again and heard nothing. Spinning the oven dial indiscriminately, she turned to go check and make sure that she didn’t have a judge’s daughter choking on her own tongue in her bathroom; it’d be too hard to explain.

Ruby pulled out a baking sheet and let it crash to the counter.

"Anna?" she called out down the hallway. She heard a muffled sound and she rolled her eyes as she headed toward it. She tried not to worry about Anna's safety, but surprisingly found that she was, for reasons other than the mess it would make. When she popped her head into the doorway of the bathroom she saw that Anna had missed half her hair when she'd pulled it up and it stuck to her neck in places. She was hunched over the toilet seat, one arm stretched across the back of it while she half leaned against the counter Ruby's sink was set into. She'd clearly started out on her knees and fell to the side onto her butt and stretched her legs out. Ruby crossed her arms over her chest. "Milton, are you going to make it?"

Anna's head moved in an approximation of a nod.

"Good. Are you done puking?" The same movement was her response. "Okay, then let's get you up and get you some water. Can you stand? Can you come to the kitchen?"

"Standing will be hard. Will I have to keep standing? Laying down seems so much better," Anna whined, her words sloshing together. She was making her way off the floor as she did though, which Ruby took as a good sign.

"Let's get you out of here before we make those decisions." The patience Ruby had been showing in her voice was dissipating. She rarely had to do this sort of thing.

Anna stumbled a little and stopped herself with the handle of the faucet. She nodded at Ruby slowly when Ruby raised an eyebrow. "I'll be okay. I'm feeling a lot better."

"You don't sound that much better," Ruby said with a hefty amount of skepticism. She sounded better than outside, but she still was completely bombed.

"I think I puked up the Oxy outside," Anna explained in a mumble. She'd let go of the faucet and walked to the door jamb that Ruby had just backed out of. Anna kept one hand on the wall in the hallway the entire trip down it. Ruby tried not to think about cleaning it immediately.

"When the fuck did you take Oxy?" Ruby demanded. She'd waited until they'd gotten into the kitchen and she could shove Anna down into a chair. That way Anna could concentrate on keeping just her head up, not her whole body. Ruby wanted her to look at her for this conversation. "Actually, hold that thought. You need food. And water. Drink this," Ruby told her, taking a bottle from the fridge and shoving it at Anna. Anna twisted the lid off of it and spilled down her shirt and onto her pants. She groaned in disappointment.

"Drink," Ruby commanded. Anna did, gulping down mouthfuls so fast that for a moment Ruby feared she might drown herself. She was breathing heavy when she finally set the bottle down. Ruby turned and she laid the fries out onto the baking sheet and put them in the oven, very consciously setting a timer. She sat down across the table from Anna and set her hands on it.

"Now, when the fuck did you take Oxy?"

"When you went to the bathroom. The girl at the booth next to us offered it to me."

Ruby stared in shock. "You just took Oxy from a stranger?"

"The first time we met I'd taken Molly from a stranger," Anna pointed out, trying to grin but grimacing.

"That's completely different and you know it. And that was hardly the first time we met."

Anna shook her head a little bit. "Ruby, I'm fine now."

"You're plastered," Ruby deadpanned.

"So?"

Anna looked confused and almost offended. As much as she could with her eyelids still drooping slightly at least. Ruby scoffed. It turned into a laugh after a moment. There was no reason to get mad at her for that- she was safe now, drinking water and about to eat within the next fifteen minutes and it didn't seem as though it would be worth a battle. Ruby ran a hand over her face.

"Can you just not take stuff from strangers when you've been drinking, please?"

"Okay," Anna nodded. She gulped down more water. "Now I gotta pee."

She swayed a little on her feet as she went and Ruby watched her go, wondering exactly how this had become her life. By all accounts, if she were doing things according to her original plan, she should have been letting Anna be a mess and leaving her in public, snapping pictures of her puking in the grass and selling them to the papers. Instead, she brought her into her apartment and was making her food, giving her lectures about the safety of taking drugs from strangers.  She heard the flush of the toilet and the _thunk_ of Anna letting the lid fall without restraint. Anna was smiling when she came out.

"Better." Ruby couldn't help but laugh at that. "What are we making?"

"We," Ruby said with emphasis, "are not making anything. I am making you French fries because it's about all I have and you do not need to be anywhere near an oven right now."

"Look at you, worrying about my safety," Anna teased, her words getting caught around her teeth a few times. Ruby laughed at her over it rather than admit that she was embarrassed that she was worried. "I promise to be careful when I do drugs. No more mixing alcohol and two types of pills."

Fortunately for Anna, the clamor of the timer kept Ruby from hearing part of her sentence clearly. Ruby was up and had a potholder in her hand to get the food before she turned around.

"What was that?" the tray dropped onto the stove with a clang. Anna had stood up and was reaching a hand out for a fry. Ruby swatted it away. "They're hot, stay back!"

Anna tried to throw a playful glare at Ruby and pout along with it, but it made her face look ridiculous. Ruby was less amused than she had been.

"What did you say before?" she repeated the question.

"Do you have any beer?" was how Anna answered.

Ruby threw her potholder onto her counter. "Are you shitting me, Milton? You don’t even like beer."

"I like everything once,” she shrugged. Then she sent a pointed look at Ruby. “Plus, what? You've never puked and rallied?"

"No," Ruby told her, "I haven't."

Anna didn't say anything, just chewed on her bottom lip and looked away from Ruby's face. She moved to sit back down and almost knocked her chair over.

"Anna, what else are you on?" Ruby's eyes were narrow and her voice was slow and low.

Anna whispered something, her lips barely moving. Ruby repeated her question, her voice growing even colder.

"Valium," Anna finally said, still not looking her in the eye.

At that Ruby exploded.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! You mixed Valium and booze and then took an Oxy?! Do you want to fucking die, Milton? Is that what you want to fucking happen? Do you want to die in some trashy club with a sticky floor?"

Anna was trying to protest, saying something about only taking half and only drinking wine, but Ruby was too enraged to even hear her. If she had any doubts about the veracity of her friendship with Anna, the anger and fear that gripped her in that moment quelled them.

“What the fuck? What the fuck is wrong with you, Anna?”

“Nothing!” Anna shouted right back at Ruby. “I’m just having fun!”

“Oh, right,” Ruby said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. She pointed a finger at Anna. “You passed fun a long time ago. You passed just having fun when you started snorting pills to get through one of your parents’ dinners.”

“Fuck you, Ruby,” Anna snapped.  Her voice was clearer than it had been all night, and so were her eyes. Her anger woke her up. “You don’t know anything! Anything about me and my life!”

“Oh, poor little rich girl‒”

“Oh, please, like you’re not just as rich as I am. Being a modern day mob boss pays awfully well and you’ve never wanted for anything, I’m sure.”

“Now who doesn’t know anything,” Ruby hissed. “This isn’t about me, it’s about the fact that you’re going to get yourself killed, all in the name of what? A high? To piss of mommy and daddy? What?”

Anna threw her hands out. “Jesus, Ruby, you don’t know anything about what it was like growing up in my house! I have had every aspect of my life planned out by my parents down to the minute when I lived there. These last two years have been the first time I’ve ever been able to make my own decisions or show any emotion or do anything at all! I spent 20 years not being able to feel a god damn thing! I was a marble statue, the perfect daughter for years locked away in that house! I just want to feel something! To feel everything!”

The coherence Anna had shown was breaking down as her voice went with it. She was near sobbing at the end of her speech. She kept her eyes on Ruby, willing her to understand.

Ruby was shaking her head and she poked her tongue against her lip in disgust, as though waiting for Anna to calm down. Her hands came to cross her chest from where they’d rested on her hips.

“That’s the dumbest excuse I have ever fucking heard,” she finally said after a moment of silence only broken up by Anna quieting her sobs. Anna’s eyes widened when she took in what Ruby had said. “You’re going to kill yourself and your excuse is that you wanted to feel something? That’s pathetic, Milton. Pathetic.”

Anna wiped at her face and sniffing once, she straightened her shoulders. She ripped the hair tie she was still wearing out and threw it at Ruby and walked towards the door.

“Where the hell are you going?”

Anna didn’t say anything and just kept walking, even as Ruby repeated her question and even when she seemed to want to go after her. It was only when Ruby had caught up with her and grabbed her arm while she was waiting for the elevator that she turned around.

“Fuck you, Ruby,” Anna bit out, yanking her arm out of her grasp. “You leave me alone if I’m so pathetic.”

And with that, Anna got into the elevator and let the tears she’d gotten under control flow freely again when the doors shut.


	8. Chapter 8

Ruby didn’t deflate as soon as the elevator doors closed; instead, she stormed back to her apartment and slammed the door, cursing Anna Milton for making her behave like a petulant child. Her apartment was hot since she hadn’t turned the oven off. She was grateful for that when she popped a fry in her mouth and realized they’d gone cold enough that she needed to reheat them. She’d be damned if she’d let Milton ruin her food as well as her night.

When Ruby took them out of the oven again, they were hot enough that she burned her fingers on them, but she continued to munch ~~on~~ them. She stared at every fry she ate as though it would make her worry less about where Anna was heading. Her rage morphed into regret and fear with every one though. She sighed and leaned her head against her table for a minute, thinking about banging it on there. She refrained and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Anna didn’t answer, of course, not even on the fourth time Ruby tried. She dialed Charlie up next, thinking that if she were headed there, Anna could have made it back already.

“Hello?” Charlie ~~d~~ answered sleepily.

“Charlie, it’s Ruby. Is Anna there?”

“What? No. I thought she was with you?” Charlie no longer sounded tired, but filled with worry. “Why isn’t she with you?”

“It’s a long story, okay? Just go back to sleep and I’ll take care of it.”

“No, what? No let me help.” Ruby could hear Charlie rustling on the other end.

“Charlie, no. I have people who can help me way better than you can. But if Anna comes home, let me know?”

“Ruby‒”

“I’m serious. Just stay there. I’ll let you know,” Ruby said before hanging up. She didn’t mean to sound short with Charlie, but she wasn’t concerned with her at the moment. Anna had said she wanted a beer, so maybe she’d gone to one of the after-hours bars. Or maybe she’d gotten home and Charlie had slept through her arrival and was about to call Ruby or maybe she was lying somewhere in a ditch and‒

Ruby stopped herself at that thought. She would be rational about finding Anna, or she wouldn’t do it. She grabbed her keys and a coat off the rack and she was out the door.

*

She was trying not to panic, but her rationality was slipping away; she’d been to every after hours bar within the city limits‒ there were 3‒ and she’d called Charlie twice more, once to see if Anna had shown up and the second time to make her call other friends Anna might have gone to. She was looking up the numbers for the area hospitals with quivering thumbs when Charlie called her back.

“Okay, well I’m officially freaking out,” Charlie said without preamble.

“Son of a bitch, Charlie, that is not what I wanted to hear!”

“It’s not what I wanted to say!” Charlie was silent for a stretch, then took a deep breath. “But look, if this has something to do with some sort of fight you two had…”

The silence Ruby responded with made Charlie continue.

“Then she’d go to the last place she’d think you’d look. Which would be‒”

“Her house. Her parents’ house.”

Ruby could practically hear Charlie nodding. “Yeah. She’s done this with the people she’s dated in the past.”

“We’re not dating,” Ruby took the time to clarify. She didn’t hear anything else Charlie said because she talked over her with a “Thanks.”

Ruby made a quick U-turn and her tires squealed as she took off towards the Milton mansion, hoping that Charlie was right and that she wouldn’t have to be looking up hospital phone numbers. She beat her hands against the wheel at every red light and blew half of them anyway, but worry made the drive endless. Finally, she could see the driveway and cut her lights off, creeping to a stop far past the entrance. She didn’t bother to lock her doors before she was gliding through the grass, trying to orient herself to where Anna’s room would be on the outside. She got turned around and she tripped over a sprinkler, cursing. She wrinkled her nose as she saw the empty fountain set back from the patio; it was tacky and she was turned around again because she had been sure that Anna’s room was on the west side of the house. Ruby trudged forward though, still staying light on her feet. She pulled out her phone in frustration, calling Anna again desperately.

Anna didn’t pick up, but she had her ringer on high, and must have had her window cracked open, because Ruby could hear faint strains of music coming from somewhere in front of her. She hurried along the perimeter of the house until the sound stopped. Her thumb hit redial as fast as possible and the music started again. It was cut off earlier that time, but Ruby could hear Anna’s hiss of “god damnit” as she hit the ignore button.

“Anna,” Ruby whispered as soon as she got in front of the window. She could see Anna’s outline moving in the moonlight despite the darkness of her room. “Anna, open this window more.”

“Ruby‒”

“Just shut up and do it, Milton, I’m not going to have this conversation through a crack in your window!”

Anna sighed, but she approached the window and wrenched it up. Ruby was sliding through it immediately. Anna stumbled back to get out of her way.

“Climb through a lot of windows in your day?” she asked, sarcasm thick in her voice. She clearly hadn’t found another drink and had found some way to sober up a bit. The nearly empty glass of water on her bedside table gave Ruby a hint as to what that was.

Ruby shrugged with a smirk that she was surprised she could work up. “I’m a lesbian drug dealer, of course I’ve climbed through a lot of windows.”

Anna smiled too, and forced a scowl onto her face instead.  Ruby twisted up her mouth.

“Look, I know you’re pissed.”

“You didn’t have to call me pathetic,” Anna told her, her painted toes twisting in her plush carpet. Ruby grimaced.

“I didn’t. I didn’t mean to at least. You just gotta understand that I got scared, okay? You could have died on me, Milton.”

“But it’s not like you don’t do drugs too‒”

“I don’t. I just sell them,” Ruby interrupted, offense clear in her voice. Anna’s head snapped up in shock. Ruby’s face was open and even in the darkness of the room, she could tell that Anna was coloring. “I’ve never done any of the stuff I move.”

“Then why have you hung around me while I did?” the raw emotion in Anna’s voice told Ruby that no matter how much she had sobered, she was still feeling the effects of combining what she had.

Ruby blocked the real reason from her mind, unsure if they were true reasons anymore anyway, and shrugged, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“I just know that I don’t want you to die, okay?”

Ruby wouldn’t look at Anna, so she didn’t see that Anna was surging forward and she couldn’t move before Anna pressed her lips against hers in a kiss. It was swift, but alarm bells rang in Ruby’s mind and she backed up and knocked into the wall.

A look of terror flashed across Anna’s face and Ruby thought tears might soon follow, so her hands came up to wave Anna off. Anna brought a hand up to her mouth and she threw herself onto her bed. She buried her face in her pillow. Though there was no sound of tears, Ruby tiptoed her way to the edge of the bed and eased herself onto it. She only jostled Anna a little.

“I know you took that the wrong way.”

“There’s a right way?” she said. Her voice was so muffled by the pillow that Ruby had to strain to make out the words.

“Anna, you’re still fucked up. Not like before, but‒”

“I just want to feel something, Ruby. I just want to feel something.”

“Isn’t that what the drugs are for?”

Anna turned her head and looked at Ruby. After a moment where Ruby’s face flushed at being scrutinized so closely, Anna turned her body as well. She kept silent and Ruby made a move to stand up, but Anna’s hand shot out and stilled her.

“Right now they’re making me feel numb instead. I made a mistake tonight. But, damn, it was an experience, you know?” There was an almost wistful tone in her voice.

“No, I don’t know. I don’t wanna know like that,” Ruby said. She didn’t mean to be unkind, but she would not sugarcoat it.

Anna bit her lip. Her eyes were wide when she looked up at Ruby. “Sleep with me.”

“You’re still fucked up,” she repeated. “I’m not going to have sex with you while you’re fucked up and upset.” Ruby didn’t realize that was how she felt until the words had come tumbling out of her mouth. Something twisted in her gut at the thought of having sex with Anna in the state she was and it was an unrecognizable feeling.

Anna’s mouth quirked up teasingly. Her hand was still on Ruby and she trailed a finger up her wrist. Ruby looked down, panicked, and Anna laughed. “I actually meant just sleep with me. I’ve got pajamas if you’d be more comfortable?”

“Maybe I’ll stay until you fall asleep?” Ruby told her after some hesitation. Anna nodded her acceptance, although her smile wasn’t as wide as it had been. She turned and settled onto her side, taking Ruby’s hand with her so it was trapped between her head and her pillow. It forced Ruby to lie down.

“Will you play with my hair?” Anna whispered. Ruby rolled her eyes, but her face softened at the sigh of contentment Anna gave when she ran her fingertips through her red hair. Ruby had almost lulled herself to sleep with the motions through the silky strands when Anna whispered again. “Tell me something.”

In the liminal state between wakefulness and unconsciousness, Ruby answered with “Like what?” instead of staying silent.

“Something honest.”

Ruby didn’t say anything and her hand stilled in Anna’s hair, resting on her shoulder. Anna’s breathing was slowing and she was nearly asleep when Ruby spoke in a soft voice.

“I’m scared about my dad being on trial. If he goes to jail, there’ll be a power vacuum in the family. I’m not old enough to run the whole business, and I don’t want to. I have no idea who would try to take over, even our legitimate work. There’d be a war between people who thought they could do what my father does. And none of them would win. None of them could do it.”

Ruby never admitted her fear of anything, to anyone‒ not since she was a little girl, at least. She couldn’t stop herself, but she could make what else she had to say even quieter.

“And I’m worried about who would end up in the crossfire.”

Anna sounded asleep and Ruby knew she should get up, go out the window, get back in her car, drive home and possibly throw her phone out the window so she couldn’t call Anna first thing in the morning, but she didn’t. Instead, Ruby settled deeper into the bed and wrapped her free arm around Anna, and she fell asleep.

*

When Ruby woke, it was because she was freezing cold. Her teeth were chattering in the blue pre-dawn hours and it hit her that they’d never shut the window. It took a ton of maneuvering for Ruby to extricate her hand from underneath Anna’s head and when she did, it was mostly useless with tingling nerves. She managed to slam the window down with one hand, but it woke Anna up with a start.

“Ruby? Are you alright?”

“Just cold,” she stuttered.

“More like freezing. Take that leather coat off and get under these covers,” Anna told her with a huff, “And take those boots off, too.”

"Who knew you'd be so bossy," Ruby joked as she slipped her boots off and shrugged out of her jacket. She flipped the blankets back and crawled under them. Anna was radiating heat and it immediately made Ruby feel better to the point where at least her teeth stopped chattering. She started to wriggle closer and stopped herself suddenly.

“You can come closer. I don’t bite. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

Ruby blushed and Anna looked over her shoulder just in time to catch it, even in the dark. It made her smile and then giggle.

“Are you still drunk?” Ruby asked as she did scoot closer. She let her one hand rest right behind Anna’s back, not sure whether she should touch her or not, and not examining the fact that she wanted to.

“I don’t think so? Maybe though,” Anna yawned.  Her next words were barely above a whisper. “Enough to ask you to hold me.”

Ruby felt something in her chest shift when she did put her arm around Anna and she snuggled further back into her. She was far from cold then and the warmth lulled her back to sleep, far more quickly than she’d ever fallen asleep with anyone else in her bed. Her last conscious thought was that that wasn’t good, but it was hard to care.

When Ruby woke again, it was to Anna searching her face having twisted around sometime, and she backed up quickly, trying not to breathe in her face.

“I’m not drunk anymore. And I want to kiss you, so if the morning breath thing is gonna be an issue for you, there’s mouthwash in the bathroom.”

Ruby started to slip out of the bed and she stood and stretched. She put her hands on her hips and twisted her mouth up at Anna.

“Way to ruin the element of spontaneity, Milton.”

Anna shrugged with one shoulder and smiled. “I tried spontaneity last night and got shot down.”

“You didn’t get shot down,” Ruby told her as she crossed the room to the bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and found the mouthwash. She couldn’t hear Anna padding out of the bed and the blankets she still had wrapped around her shoulders rustling over her swishing. When she straightened up after spitting, she saw Anna behind her in the mirror. She addressed her there. “You were just fucked up. How are you not dying of a hangover right now?”

Anna grabbed her shoulder and twisted her around. Ruby didn’t meet her eyes. “Ruby, why are you still talking when you should be kissing me?”

If Ruby had a response, it was lost in Anna leaning forward and slotting her lips against Ruby’s. It wasn't as quick as it was last night, the hesitation in Anna's action clear. She was waiting for Ruby to back out, but she would be waiting for a long time, because Ruby let the kiss go on. She kept it chaste at first, just a kiss to feel each other's mouths before Anna made a small noise in the back of her throat and Ruby parted her lips. She licked her tongue out to tease at Anna's bottom lip and Anna opened her mouth in response, treating Ruby to the same action. They teased at each other, both of them seemingly content to explore softly for a moment and then Ruby's hands came up to Anna's shoulders and dug under the blanket still wrapped around her.

She brushed it off to expose Anna's warm skin to the air and to be able to get a better grip on her shoulders. The blanket had been too soft for Ruby to feel the way Anna shivered after the feather light caresses. She trailed her hands down Anna's back and wormed her fingers under the racerback she'd fallen asleep in. Anna's arms broke out in goosebumps when Ruby smoothed a single finger down her spine under her shirt and continued to lick kittenishly at the seam of her mouth. Ruby sucked Anna's bottom lip into her mouth as she pulled her closer to her body.

Their breasts were flush against each other then, Anna's nipples clearly pebbling in response to the coldness in the room after having lost her cover. They poked through her shirt and Ruby could feel them at the top of her own breast. Her head was tilted up enough that she'd noticed the height difference between them but when she raised up to her tiptoes and her nipples brushed against Anna's, she let out a small gasp. Anna did as well and her hands moved from where they'd stayed at Ruby's shoulders to her waist. Her hands were fiery hot against Ruby's skin where she rucked up her shirt to press against her hips and her lower back. Their caresses turned into clutches as they started to kiss deeper, tongues slipping into each other's mouths finally, massaging each other. Anna groaned when Ruby sucked on her tongue and Ruby hissed when Anna nipped at her lip and pulled her even farther into her space.

Anna took a small step backwards and brought Ruby with her, her movements getting bigger as she realized Ruby would willingly follow her back towards the bed. Anna slid her hand up the back of Ruby's shirt and unhooked the bra that she'd slept in. Ruby's sigh of contentment made Anna smirk which earned her a nip at her earlobe. Anna backed away from Ruby just long enough to get her hand on the hem of Ruby's shirt and pull up and then slip her out of the bra entirely. The cotton of Anna's shirt felt scratchy against Ruby's pert nipples when Anna yanked her back to be flush with her body.

Ruby's hands found their way to Anna's hair and tangled in it, taking control of the kiss as she pulled Anna's head down more. Anna groaned and palmed Ruby's ass. Ruby let Anna straighten up.

"Are we doing this, Milton?"

Anna smirked. "Well, I mean, your shirt's already off. And it seems like we both want to." Her voice trailed off, both teasing and unsure. Ruby smirked back and put Anna's uncertainty to rest.

 "It does seem that way. Get your shirt off." Ruby let her hands fall from Anna's hair so Anna could pull her top off. Anna took control of the kissing again and tongued her way into Ruby's mouth while her hands came up to cup Ruby's breasts.

She thumbed against her nipples lightly, teasingly, back and forth at a brutally slow pace and Ruby's hips rocked forward in response. The button of her jeans dug into Anna's stomach a little. Ruby slipped a hand between the two of them to pop the offending button and slide her zipper down. Anna's hands went from teasing at Ruby's nipples down to her hips to help push her pants off. Ruby was still kicking out of them as her own hands went to the printed pajama pants Anna had tied on her waist. She didn't go to slide them down, she just slithered a hand in the front of them behind the newly loosened  drawstring and felt the patch of Anna's pubic hair she kept unshaved. Ruby smiled into the kiss they were sharing as she shifted her hand to tease at the place Anna's thigh met her crotch, first one side and the other, just feeling the smoothness of her skin and the heat of it. Anyone else would probably have told Ruby not to be a tease, but Anna just rocked into the sensation. It was erotic in a way that shocked her. It was just her bikini line, but Ruby's hands felt amazing there, especially combined with the way she was nibbling up Anna's neck and jawline. Anna could hear her own heavy breathing and knew her nails were digging into Ruby's lower back probably too hard.

She unclenched her hands and rubbed at the skin she'd been abusing before slipping her fingertips beneath the silky texture of Ruby's panties. They were black and smooth and stretchy enough that Anna could snap the waistband with a giggle.

"Really?" Ruby asked, breaking their kiss for a moment. Anna giggled and did it again and Ruby gave her a mock glare and took her hand from the front of Anna's pants. She put that same hand in the middle of Anna's chest and pushed back, hard enough that Anna bounced a little when she hit the bed and Anna's arousal took over any desire she had to giggle again. Ruby took a step towards her and Anna put her hands up, ready to cup Ruby's ass if she were going to straddle her, but Ruby smirked and yanked Anna's pants, hard enough to get them off in one go and then her hands were on Anna.

Her index and middle fingers ran up Anna's slit, spreading the wetness there by dipping into her cunt shallowly and dragging up to her clit. Anna threw her head back at the touch, but Ruby's other hand grabbed at the back of her head and forced her to look back down at where Ruby was touching  her sex.

"Watching is part of the experience," she told her, giving her a quick, filthy kiss. "So I expect that you watch everything I'm going to do to you, Anna. Alright?"

Anna nodded with a groan as Ruby kept circling her clit and she kept watching the movement, never sure when Ruby was going to switch it up. She switched directions of the circles, ran Anna's clit between the pads of her fingers up and down, pinched it lightly between the sides of them, just amping up the pleasure Anna could feel building, but not enough that Anna felt like she was going to come.

Ruby leaned forward and captured Anna's mouth in a kiss as her hand shifted again and her two fingers slid back to Anna's entrance. They circled there, teasing the muscles, and Ruby's thumb came up to press against Anna's clit. Her tongue fucked into Anna's mouth as she slipped her fingers into Anna and rubbed her clit. Anna moaned at the sensations. She tried to give back as good as she was getting in the kiss but Ruby didn't let her, taking control of it completely and shoving Anna back onto the bed, changing the angle of her fingers pumping in and out of her pussy and the way her thumb brushed against her. Ruby sucked Anna's tongue and her free hand came up to touch her breasts, teasing each of her nipples in turn and she never stopped her ministrations to Anna's sex.

Anna could feel her orgasm building, coming on quicker as Ruby pressed against her front wall, seeking out her g-spot and finding it easily. The new pressure there and the light caresses on her nipples and the circling of her clit sent Anna over the edge into an orgasm that pulled a long groan out of her and into Ruby's mouth. Ruby moved her thumb, but kept pressing into Anna as she came down. She moved her mouth from Anna's to suck at her neck at the juncture between it and her shoulder.

Anna started to sit up, making Ruby adjust her position, and Ruby gave almost a squawk as Anna's hands came up and circled her ass to pull her onto her lap. It didn't last long, because Anna was rolling them over and shoving her leg in between Ruby's thigh. Anna's hair fell into Ruby's face, hiding them behind a curtain of red. Ruby brought a hand up to get her own hair out of her face to look Anna in the eye.

"I want you to grind yourself off on me before I go down on you," Anna told her. Ruby arched her back at the words, bringing her sex into contact with Anna's thigh. "Do you want my hand or will my leg work?"

"Either," Ruby told her. Anna nodded and leaned down to kiss Ruby again, surprising her one more time by flipping them once more so that Ruby was straddling Anna's thigh. Anna worked her hand down between Ruby's still cloth-covered sex and her own leg, watching as Ruby's eyes fluttered shut when her knuckles rubbed against her clit.

"Your panties are soaked," Anna said with a groan of pleasure at the feeling of the material sliding as Ruby began to rock her hips. It got her a groan back as well. "I want you to come with them on still. And then I want to taste you. I want to taste you in them."

"Jesus, Milton, where'd you get a mouth like that?" Ruby asked as her hips rocked faster. Anna just smiled up at Ruby and Ruby's mouth went wide into pleasure when Anna brought her free hand to pinch at her nipples.

"Here and there. You like it?" Ruby nodded and Anna dropped her hand back down, settling on Ruby's hip. "Play with your own nipples until you get off."

Ruby moaned again and the moan turned into a keening cry when her fingers pinched at her nipples. Anna bounced her leg to help Ruby grind against her and she felt as Ruby's hips began to stutter and her fingers went slack.

“I told you until you got off,” Anna said quietly and Ruby’s fingers circled her nipples again and she ground down hard, coming with a small cry. The wetness of her panties grew and Anna loved how it felt against her hand. She was about to roll Ruby off of her when Ruby looked down with a gleam in her eye.

“We’re going to 69, Anna.” Anna felt a bolt of arousal zing through her at the idea. “So scoot back.”

Ruby finally slipped off her panties and she climbed back onto Anna’s lap and pushed her flat onto her back again. She was torturously slow in turning around so that she could hover with her sex above Anna’s mouth. She lowered her head to lick a stripe up Anna’s vulva and Anna let out a whine, both from how good Ruby’s tongue felt on her still sensitive clit and at how much she wanted to taste Ruby. She could feel Ruby’s smirk against her and instead of a whine, a growl came from her throat and she reached up to clutch at Ruby’s ass and pull her down.

Ruby cried out in pleasure when Anna’s lips wrapped around her clit. Anna breathed in the scent of Ruby and moaned around the sensitive bud. The sound egged Ruby on and she lapped at Anna faster. Anna continued to groan around Ruby’s clit and the vibrations sent jolts of pleasure through her.

They both were rocking their hips into the other’s mouths and breathing heavy whenever they could and they knew that neither of them would take long to come again. They were both sensitive from their orgasms and they were both desperate to feel each other as they climaxed and neither of them could stop licking and sucking at each other. Anna took one hand from where it had been kneading into Ruby’s ass and brought it to her slickness before pushing a finger into Ruby’s cunt and stroking at her g-spot. That and the way her tongue pressed at Ruby’s clit was enough to set Ruby to keening and her legs to shaking. Anna worked her tongue until she felt Ruby’s walls contracting in orgasm. Ruby groaned loudly and pressed her tongue tight up against Anna’s clit. Anna did the work of rocking her hips until she could feel her own orgasm coming on and her thighs tightened around Ruby’s head as it hit her.

Neither knew how long it was before they noticed they’d both stopped moving and were panting against each other’s thighs, but Anna squirmed underneath Ruby at her breath tickling her and it spurred Ruby to move. She flopped onto her back in Anna’s space and turned to look at her. Anna returned the look and smiled. Her hand reached out and she wove her fingers in between Ruby’s when Ruby smiled back.

Ruby’s heart lurched. This was not how her time with Anna had been meant to go; she’d meant to use the girl to take down her family, not be making eyes at her while naked and sated. Even if she’d foreseen sex in the equation, she definitely wasn’t supposed to be feeling her heart beat in her throat and a dangerous urge to spill the truth about everything to Anna.

But that was what she felt. She tried to remember the last time she felt like this after sex and she couldn’t. Even when she’d thought herself in love with Tammi, or even when the sex had been more mind-blowing and dirty, she hadn’t felt close to a person the way lying there, sweat rapidly cooling and hand entangled with Anna’s made her feel. It terrified her.

Ruby tore her gaze away from Anna’s and started to sit up. She did bring her hand up and plant a light kiss on Anna’s knuckles before she could stop herself.

“I need to go. Before your parents go out and see my car.”

Anna nodded as she sat up too. Ruby was pulling her clothes back on, her jeans sticking to her legs as she did and her breasts jiggling slightly when she jumped to get them on. It made Anna laugh at little, but Ruby just pursed her lips at her. Anna chewed her bottom lip for a moment while Ruby got her bra on, suddenly feeling shy. She got up to start getting dressed as well.

“Would you mind giving me a ride back to my place? I took a cab last night and it’d be great if my parents didn’t know I was here if they don’t already.”

Part of Ruby wanted to say no and come up with some excuse, but she was nodding before she could think of anything that would be convincing and not make her feel like absolute shit. She settled for looking up at Anna as she slid into her jacket.

“Just move fast, huh?”

Anna tried not to look taken aback and grabbed the first shirt she found out of her drawer; it was a Yale Law shirt her parents had gotten her at her high school graduation. She could feel the disdain Ruby was holding back, but she jerked her head at the window, letting know she’d follow her out.

The two of them were silent as they left Anna’s house and Ruby turned up her radio as soon as the car was in gear. Anna tried not to feel offended, and she looked askance at Ruby tap her fingers against the steering wheel.

When they pulled up to Anna’s apartment, they’d barely said two words to each other, but Anna still chanced a smile before she got out.

“Sorry about last night. Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Ruby said evenly.

Anna’s hand was on the handle yet she leaned over and brushed a kiss onto Ruby’s cheek. “But this morning meant a lot. So thanks.”

Ruby rolled down the window once Anna had slammed the door closed.

“I might be busy this week if you call, okay? Don’t freak out about it.”

Anna nodded with a small smile still on her lips.

When Ruby watched Anna’s picture flash on her phone and she hit the ignore button when it’d been two weeks, guilt made her heart lurch.


	9. Chapter 9

Anna was trying very hard not to freak out. Charlie would tell anyone who asked that it wasn’t working out very well.

“Look, I liked Ruby too, but maybe she’s that kind of bitch,” Charlie said one day while Anna was spinning her phone at the breakfast table.  “I mean, think about who her family is.”

“That’s not fair, think about who my family is,” Anna shot back right away. “I mean, maybe that’s why she hasn’t called. Maybe she’s worried about our families.”

“It’s not Romeo and Juliet, Anna. There’s no blood feud.”

“No, but I’m pretty sure my father’s supposed to be the judge at her father’s trial next month. I would probably want to avoid me too if I were her.”

Anna had all but abandoned her bowl of cereal and Charlie sighed.  She brought a hand up to her face and rubbed at the bridge of her nose, not able to look at the dejected expression on Anna’s face any more.

“Go find her if you’re so worried about her.”

Anna looked up sharply. A taken aback look replaced the dejected one she’d worn. Charlie shrugged at her while she chewed her lip.

“It’s just a suggestion.”

“I don’t know where she is,” Anna whispered, her expression once again falling. Charlie huffed and sent Anna a withering stare.

“Go look. Also, your best friend is a hacker. I can get her address for you. Heck, I can probably track her phone for you if you want.”

For what seemed like the first time in weeks, Anna’s eyes lit up. Charlie smiled at her, though it was a hesitant one. She really didn’t want to use her skills to stalk a girl Anna’d slept with and who was blowing her off, but if she were honest with herself, she didn’t want to reduce Ruby to that. Somehow, Ruby had become one of Anna’s closest friends. Charlie could see how Anna had looked at Ruby all the times the other woman had been there in the apartment. It may have been something more than close friends, though Charlie hadn’t wanted to think it. But it hadn’t just been Anna either; she’d catch glimpses of how Ruby looked back at Anna, especially when she didn’t think the other girl was looking. There was something she was hiding, but there was something deeper too. Charlie wanted to think so, at least. For both of their sake’s; they’d been good together.

“Exams are on,” Charlie said, “so go see if she’s in the library first. You two studied together there, right? Swing by her apartment. If you can’t find her, come back and I’ll find her home address.”

Anna was nodding. “I will. But there’s going to be something else I have to do first.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” Charlie didn’t like the grimace on Anna’s face and she was concerned about the way it turned into grim determination.

“I have to go talk to my father.”

*

Anna generally tried to stay out of her father’s office. Even when she had been a little girl, the room was intimidating, not interesting. Heavy, dusty books; papers in display cases; solid, sturdy desk that was always piled with files in some sort of order only Michael Milton could follow; none of it made a very welcoming atmosphere for a child and now it felt even worse for Anna. She avoided her mother’s study mostly to avoid her mother, who would always have a task for her, but it was just her father’s space she didn’t want to intrude upon. So she hesitated before she knocked on the closed door that Bianca, their maid, had told her hid her father.

She pushed open the door gently when she heard him call ‘come in.’

“Anna, what are you doing home? Don’t you have finals?”

“I don’t have anything until Monday, sir,” she told him, old habits of speech falling into play. Michael frowned at the formality, but his brow straightened quickly. He didn’t let the silence stretch on, not even noticing the nervous way Anna’s hands twitched.

“Did you need something, then, sweetie? Because I am in the middle of prepping for a big hearing. You’d be amazed at what lawyers want to try to get away with,” he said, trying to smile. It came out more like a look of pain.

“Is it the Morgenstern case?” Anna blurted out. Michael’s eyebrows shot up and Anna’s cheeks blushed. “I’m sorry, I just… After dinner that night when you and Mom were talking about it, I did some investigating. I heard you were supposed to be presiding over that case.”

“I am, yes. It’s unfortunate that someone we know is being put in such a position, but then, we all knew it was a matter of time‒”

“How can they even let you sit on this case? Since Morgenstern is a friend?”

“Well, he’s more of an acquaintance. And there was a lot of maneuvering done by the prosecution to allow me to, honestly. If you’re interested in it, I could show you all‒”

Anna cut her father off again. “Daddy, I don’t want you to hear this case.” She almost threw her hand over her mouth for saying it so suddenly, but it came out and she wouldn’t take it back. She couldn’t stop hearing Ruby’s voice as she said that her father going to jail would cause a war. Her parents had hinted at those details as well, and even if she had no idea who those other families were, anyone who made Ruby frightened couldn’t be good news. Even if Ruby had lied to her about other things‒ which she was fairly sure she had, since she was avoiding her so starkly‒ that had rung true.

Michael was simply looking at Anna, his mouth still partway open from his truncated offer to teach Anna something. Anna swallowed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“What I mean, sir,” she started, trying to remain calm. “What I mean is that I’ve become friends with Ruby Morgenstern and I think it will cause a lot of strain on our friendship if you help put her father in jail.”

Anna hadn’t meant to lead with that at all, but she couldn’t change it now.

“I also think there’s an inherent conflict, even though I know you wouldn’t show bias towards Nicholas Morgenstern. I still think it would be easy for a lawyer to get the case dismissed by someone above your head if they knew about our family’s relationship. No matter how loose it is.”

Michael looked as though he were going to speak, but Anna had more to say still.

“I will do whatever you and mother want. I’ll stop blowing off classes, I’ll stop going out all the time. I’ll make sure to only date boys, whatever. I’ll get that summer internship and buckle down in my studies and‒”

Then it was Michael’s turn to cut his daughter off. “This is that important to you?”

Anna just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“I won’t ask you not to date who you want, Anna, you know that has never been an issue with your mother and me. I will ask that you do buckle down in your studies, though. And you take that internship. And maybe come home for dinner a little more often?”

Anna was still nodding throughout her father’s reply. He ran a hand through his hair, the grey at the temples standing out in that moment and met his daughter’s eyes again.

“I will think about this, alright? I cannot guarantee that I won’t sit the case, but I will consider your feelings.”

There wasn’t anything Anna could do to stop herself from running around her father’s desk and throwing her arms around him. She pressed kisses of thanks into his hair and she barely noticed when he patted her arm in acknowledgment.

“Thank you, sir, thank you so much,” Anna said. She was straightening up and heading towards the door before he could get out so much as a “you’re welcome.”

“I’ve gotta go take care of something else. I’ll come home for dinner next weekend after my finals! Love you!”

Michael wasn’t quite sure if he’d seen his daughter or a whirlwind as he turned back to his work, setting aside the Morgenstern case for some other files he needed to review.

*

Ruby was not in the library, nor was she in her apartment. Her doorman had said he hadn’t seen her for two days, so Anna headed back to her place, hoping Charlie had known to already start finding the Morgenstern family home address.

“Charlie, I love you,” Anna said when she walked in and saw that her roommate was smiling over her shoulder and holding out a piece of paper for Anna to take. Sure enough, there was an address written on it.

“I know,” Charlie smiled back. “Try not to get bitten by a vampire or anything at their house. It looks positively gothic.”

“Can you picture anything else for Ruby, really?” Anna joked. Charlie made a show of considering and then shook her head.

“Make her talk to you, okay? There’s something going on,” Charlie said, her eyes serious and almost pleading. Anna nodded as she turned to leave again, never having taken off her coat or put away her keys. Charlie’s eyes narrowed then. “And don’t think you’re getting away with not telling me what you needed to go see your dad about!”

Anna waved a hand over her shoulder and raced down to her car, plugging the address into her phone’s GPS as she went. She was gunning the engine down the road in no time, not even sure what she was going to say to Ruby when she got to the house, or worse, what she would say to anyone else she met in the house. She sent out a quick prayer that she would only have to confront Ruby, and not come up with a lie for her parents.

The first person she met when she got to the house was the gate security guard, who looked at Anna’s ID and waved her through. Then there was a valet, who didn’t question at all why Anna was there or why she was looking for Ruby. The man just told her that “Miss Morgenstern is in the library studying, I believe. Shall I ring the room and tell her to expect you?”

“No, no,” Anna protested, “It’s supposed to be a surprise.” She chanced a smile and did not get one in return, but the valet gave a tight lipped nod and pointed her in the direction of the library.

Charlie hadn’t been wrong about the gothic look of the exterior of the house, but the interior felt much different. It was cold and slightly impersonal, but then again, Anna was used to that. But it screamed opulence and money. She could see why her parents thought the Morgensterns nouveau-riche, even if it wasn’t totally accurate. It was a beautiful house, though.

Anna’s footfalls sounded heavy to her own ears, and they only sounded heavier when she could hear voices from up ahead. She recognized Ruby’s voice, and she could hear that she was pissed off at whoever she was talking to. She couldn’t make out the words yet, so she quickened her pace. She practically skidded into the doorway and then she could make out what the conversation was.

She wished she couldn’t still. As her heart sank and she said something‒ she didn’t even know what‒ she wished she’d never even met Ruby, never seen her at all. She couldn’t hear a damn thing as she raced back out of the house and to her car.

*

Tammi was the last person Ruby wanted to see after the week she’d been having, so of course with her luck, after a mere half an hour in the library working on a paper for the final she had in a week, she strutted in with her boots clicking. Ruby’d avoided her every time she’d gone home so far and now she tried to ignore her and the way she lounged against the door frame. The tension in the room was palpable no matter how hard she tried to pretend it wasn’t. Her skin prickled whenever she was around Tammi on her own. The thought _I wish Anna were here_ flashed unbidden in her mind and her stomach turned. Tammi must have had some sort of sixth sense because she chose that moment to speak.

“Rumor has it someone’s gone soft on the Milton daughter.” Tammi’s voice was like silk, but her words were a knife in Ruby’s ears. She’d had just about enough of whatever rumors people were spreading, especially given what she’d been doing to counteract them.

“Good,” Ruby shrugged. She opened a different notebook and set to working on something else, unable to concentrate on school now. Tammi raised an eyebrow and smirked. “That’s the rumor I want to be going around.”

Tammi made a sound of affirmation, but a disbelieving one. “I’d heard that, too. But that was before I heard that you’d spent the night with her.”

Ruby refused to respond to the bait and she kept scrawling down her cipher for her father’s books. Her toe tapped against the floor under the desk and it took her a moment to realize that Tammi would recognize that habit for what it was. She stilled her foot and her hand slowed when she heard Tammi make a sound in the back of her throat.

“What?” she asked, setting the pen down and looking up with her mouth in a flat line.

“You forget that I know you, Ruby. That I know that no matter how much you want to just be daddy’s good little girl and be a heartless bitch, you’re not. I remember your face when you begged me to take you back, remember?”

Ruby remained silent and tried not to think about the night after Tammi had told her it was over. She’d been fine that first night‒ silent and heartbroken‒ but the next she’d popped something, for one of the only times in her life, and shown up at the apartment she and Tammi had talked about sharing soon, desperation thick in her voice. She hadn’t hidden her hurt. But she’d built an iron wall around herself in regards to Tammi since then. Ruby stood, still behind the desk but prepared to fight as Tammi seemed to stalk closer to her.

“I remember. But it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh?” Tammi said, her eyebrow arching impossibly higher. “So you didn’t stay the night with her in her parents’ house? You didn’t share her bed and fuck her in the morning?”

Ruby stared straight into Tammi’s eyes, her hands steady and her lips pursed. She had no idea how she’d found out, but she wouldn’t show that.

“If I did, what do you think that matters for?”

“So you did? You admit it.” Tammi’s smirk had turned into a full out smile and it was cruel. Ruby wanted to hit her more than she ever had; she hated her in that moment, worse than she had when she’d broken her heart, worse than she had when she’d learned her father was keeping her on to work with the family.

“Of course I stayed with her. Of course I fucked her,” Ruby nearly growled. “How else do you think I was going to make her think she mattered to me?”

“So she doesn’t?”

Ruby rolled her eyes and sat back down. She locked her eyes on Tammi again in exasperation.

“No, she doesn’t matter to me. Anna Milton is a party girl that I’m going to use to take her family down a peg or two because she’s too fucked up to notice that I don’t care one iota about her. I’m going to splash her name all over the news and her father won’t be able to try any cases, let alone my father’s.” Ruby was so incensed at Tammi that she didn’t hear the soft creak of the door behind her as it opened. She continued on. “And the funny thing is, Milton doesn’t even need my influence to fuck her family up. She’s had the feather in her the whole time, because she’s just some poor little rich girl snorting Daddy’s money up her nose and slutting it up with anyone that moves. And when I land her in the papers, it’s going to ruin them all for years to come.”

Tammi looked expectant, as though Ruby were going to continue and it egged her on more. She could barely see straight she was so mad at Tammi even being there.

“Even you’ve got to admit, pissed though you might be that you didn’t think of it, but I’m awesome.”

Ruby’d run out of steam and Tammi brought her hands up as though she was going to clap. A smirk had been creeping back onto her lips and Ruby wanted to slap it off her smug face. Then she understood why it was there.

“You’re not awesome,” a quiet voice said. Ruby whipped her head around and saw Anna standing there, artfully torn up jeans and a cozy sweater on and the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “You’re awful. You’re absolutely awful.”

Anna had turned on her heel and was back out the door before Ruby could even process what had happened. Her face fell and it wasn’t until Tammi began to laugh that she even noticed. Ruby’s face burned as she turned toward Tammi.

“Get out,” she growled. Tammi’s eyes glowed with amusement and Ruby repeated herself, her voice going deadly quiet. “Get out right now or I will find a way to make your life miserable, Tammi.”

Tammi laughed at that too and rolled her eyes. “You always have talked a good game, Ruby. I’m here to see your father anyway. I just‒”

“Go.” It was a command and Tammi followed it, though she still looked pleased with herself.   

Ruby collapsed into her chair as she heard Tammi’s footsteps fading and she let her head fall into her hands. She steadied her breathing until it felt less like her heart was going to beat right up her throat and out of her mouth. She swallowed down a shaky breath and raised her head, trying not to think about Anna’s face as she’d run out. She’d written only a paragraph more before she couldn’t stop herself from grabbing her phone and dialing Anna’s number.

It went straight to voicemail and Ruby’s eyes stung. She dropped her phone next to her computer and laid her head on her folded arms. _10 minutes,_ she promised herself, _I’ll stop thinking about her in 10 minutes._

She had no idea how long she rested there, but her computer screen fell asleep and the light slanted through the windows in a new way, and she was still thinking about Anna. 


	10. Chapter 10

Ruby waited until after finals were done to try to get ahold of Anna. She threw herself into studying and preparing final papers and if she lied to herself she could say that Anna was only in the back of her mind a little bit. Her papers were mostly bullshit and she knew while she was sitting for the tests that she wasn’t doing as well as she should have, but she was dealing with this sick pit of worry that hadn’t left her stomach since she’d seen Anna’s face fall that day in the library.

Her last final let out and she’d barely left the room before she was calling Anna. She had no illusions that Anna would pick up and that she would be given the chance to explain herself, but she had to try. It went straight to voicemail. It did the next 16 times Ruby tried to call her in the next two days. Even Charlie wouldn’t pick up when Ruby called, which oddly gave her a sense of relief; it meant Anna was ignoring her and not hurt somewhere, drunk and passed out in a ditch. Ruby had no idea how Anna behaved after she’d left the Morgenstern house; for all Ruby knew, giving Anna space had just let her go out and get trashed every day for the last week and a half and hurt herself. Or it could have given her time to move on with her life and completely forget that anything had ever happened with Ruby. Ruby had her doubts about that though.

The only thing she could do was wait for Anna to stop ignoring her. Her waiting was easier when she showed up to her apartment and Meg was there, once again, alcohol in her hands.

“Heard you kicked Tammi out of your house,” she said, holding one of the bottles up as a toast. Ruby snatched it out of her hand and brought it immediately to her lips, gulping down the contents.

“Christ, this is the worst damn wine I’ve ever had, Meg,” Ruby  sputtered as she stopped drinking.

“You drank enough of it, though,” Meg pointed out. “Also, don’t be rude, I made it.”

“It’s in a store bottle!”

“I didn’t go get my own bottles, what the hell do I look like, Morgenstern?”  Meg rolled her eyes and spun the top of her bottle as well. “This is homemade too, so don’t be a pansy about it. What’s got you so ready to drink, anyway?”

Ruby took the bottle of what was essentially moonshine and took a swig; it tasted awful but potent and she made a face when she took another drink. She flopped onto her couch next to Meg.

“Last day of finals, it’s a celebration,” Ruby deadpanned, making Meg snort. She took the bottle back from Ruby and knocked back a drink. Ruby let her head fall back against the cushions. “I think I fucked up.”

“Ruby Morgenstern doesn’t fuck up, unless it comes to her feelings, so you tell me who I’ve gotta gut.”

“Nobody. This time is really is my fault. This isn’t like with Tammi where I only thought it was my fault.” Ruby didn’t even try to deny the veracity of Meg’s statement.

“This is about Milton, isn’t it? You never had a plan or reason to hang out with her, you big sap,” Meg teased. Her expression changed when Ruby hauled off and socked her in the shoulder and then took one of her bottles of booze.

“Is this dandelion wine? Never make it again.”

“Forget the wine, tell me the truth about what happened with Anna,” Meg demanded, bringing her feet up onto the couch and shoving at Ruby’s thigh with a socked foot.  Ruby sighed and straightened up before she took another gulp of the wine and passed it back to Meg. Meg exchanged their bottles and lifted an eyebrow impatiently.

Ruby told her everything before she could stop herself, leaving out only the detail Anna had revealed during their game of truth or dare. Meg listened without interrupting at all and let Ruby punctuate the tale with gulps of alcohol. When Ruby was finished she looked deflated and Meg gave it a moment to see if she had anything more to say.

“Well, Ruby,” Meg began, “Sounds like you’re sort of an idiot.”

“I know that.”

“I don’t mean for half falling in love with Anna Milton, which that makes you an idiot too, of course, but I mean for not just going over to her place and telling her all this romantic bullshit.”

Ruby looked up like Meg had just revealed the secrets of the universe and Meg looked too smug about it.

“Don’t you act like you’ve never caught feelings for the wrong people, Meg. I remember that boy when you were 17- what was his name? Casey?”

“This has nothing to do with me, or him‒ his name was Cas, by the way‒ and everything to do with the fact that you got scared and need to go talk to her. At least to try to clear things up. This might involve you being honest, which I know is a big problem for you, but it’s your call if you want to just be stuck hanging out with me all the time drinking my crappy booze, or if you want your friend back.”

There must have been more alcohol in that homemade booze than Ruby had thought, because she felt emboldened by it and Meg’s words. She stood up from the couch and saw Meg’s eyebrows shoot up; they went even further when Ruby held out her hand to help Meg up. She pushed the bottle she was still holding into Meg’s arms

“Masters, never let it be said that you couldn’t lead a crowd. And I take back any bad thing I said about your booze.” Meg looked amused and Ruby scowled. “Don’t look smug. Get a stopper out of the drawer and get the hell outta my apartment. I’ve got a girl to go woo.”

Meg’s arched eyebrow mocked Ruby, but she didn’t care.

“A girl to woo? Jesus, you’re a sap.” But Meg was smiling as she said it and Ruby grinned back at her. She wasn’t sure she and Meg had ever shared such a carefree look with each other and she liked it more than she would have expected; Anna had been a good influence on her.

“But if it doesn’t go well and you need more of this alcohol, you let me know and I’ll come over and pretend you were never this happy, okay?”

Ruby grinned. “Deal.”

“And don’t just follow me out like some desperate teenager. Throw on some makeup. Some eyeliner at least.”

“Get the fuck out, Meg,” Ruby told her. She wouldn’t admit to the other girl that she took her advice before grabbing her keys and heading out the door.

When Ruby got to Anna’s apartment, no one answered. She was pounding on the door for atleast two minutes before someone answered. It, of course, was Charlie.

“If you’re here to see Anna, she’s gone.” Charlie’s mouth was a straight line of disapproval and Ruby felt something in her break a little. Subconsciously, she’d hoped maybe Charlie was on her side.

“I fucked up, okay? I want to be able to explain everything, but she deserves to hear it first. I don’t care whether or not you believe me as long as she does,” Ruby told her, not knowing how true the words were until she spoke them aloud.

“Yeah, I heard you fucked up,” Charlie agreed. Her arms crossed over her chest and she looked unimpressed.

“Did she tell you what I said?” Charlie didn’t answer, just pursed her lips and Ruby sighed. “Fine, don’t answer me. Can I come in and not do this right on the door step?”

“I don’t‒”

“Let her in,” came Anna’s voice softly from the apartment. Ruby mentally gave a sigh of relief and she breezed right past Charlie. She might have thrown a sympathetic look her way but at the moment she didn’t really care that much. She only wanted to see Anna.

“I didn’t mean what I said,” Ruby announced right off the bat. Anna looked skeptical, her eyes flat and her mouth twisted up in disbelief.

“Really? Because I am not sure I have any reason to believe you.” Her voice was nearly monotone as she said it.

 _I’m in love with you,_ almost tripped off of Ruby’s tongue, but she bit it and held it in. It wouldn’t be fair to say.

“I didn’t tell anyone what you told me that night at the club,” was what came out of her mouth. Anna sucked in a breath and Ruby hurried to continue on. “I could have, and it would have ruined you and your family. But I didn’t. I won’t. I wouldn’t ever now.”

Anna chewed her lower lip and her eyes looked sunken, bags under them. Ruby made herself stay steady as Anna met her eyes.

“But you would have before?”

“Maybe. I won’t tell you I didn’t have a plan to ruin you and your family when we started to be friends. I did.  But now I don’t want to. I don’t want to at all.” There was pleading in Ruby’s voice, desperation making her vulnerable.

Anna scoffed, but Ruby heard a sympathetic noise come from Charlie.

“I am so sorry that‒”

“I don’t want to hear it right now, Ruby,” Anna interrupted her. Ruby looked completely taken aback and it did give Anna a glimmer of satisfaction, but only just. She softened a little. “I’m glad you came to tell me. It means a lot. But I don’t know whether I’ll be able to forgive you. I think I might have been in love with you and you broke my heart. I’ve got no idea what to believe about you now, so I need you to get out and give me a little time.”

No one in the apartment moved as Anna spoke and when she finished, both of them (Charlie having snuck out to give them privacy) could hear Anna’s neighbor’s TV blaring.

“Okay,” Ruby said, her voice coming out slow and thick, made molasses by heartsickness. “I can do that.”

She nodded and she turned to leave, glad for the opportunity to let her face fall. She was almost to the door and she turned around to look at Anna one more time.

“Let me know either way, will you? Even if you decide I’m trash and you can’t ever look at me again.” Ruby took a deep breath before she went on. “Because I think I might have been in love with you, too.”

She didn’t stay long enough to see Anna’s expression change to one of anguish and she was already dialing Meg as she started down the stairs.

“Bring me all the booze you’ve got,” she said, her voice breaking. She owed Meg so much for not making fun of her for it and even more for not even bringing it up.

*

Ruby’d been drunk every night for the last four and she marveled at how she picked up Anna’s bad habits along with good things as well. Two of those nights she’d been by herself, the previous one included.

She felt like absolute crap when her phone woke her up that Thursday morning. She almost ignored it, reading her stepmother’s name and groaning. But somehow she managed to answer.

“Hello?”

“Milton stepped away from the case,” she announced without preamble. It woke Ruby right up. She sat up and brought a hand to her head and massaged her temples.

“What? Why? Who is it now?”

Abigail sounded gleeful. ‘I have no idea. They have no idea yet, but it isn’t someone we know we can’t buy off. I don’t know who is looking out for us, but I’m glad they are.”

And despite how tired and how hungover Ruby felt, she knew exactly who was looking out for them. Her mind was racing a mile a minute about how to approach Anna about this. She hadn’t heard from her at all since the day Ruby’dtried to win her back at her apartment and Ruby respected that she wanted space, but there was no way she could go on without addressing this. She had to talk to Anna.

Abigail was saying something, but Ruby was not listening at all.

“I’ve got to go,” she said, cutting off whatever her stepmother was saying. She heard the scoff that told her Abigail felt disrespected, but she had never cared less. “Tell dad I love him,” she had mind enough to say. “I’m happy for him.”

Before Abigail could ever respond, Ruby hung up and threw her phone onto her bed as she was getting up. She winced with every movement, but she worked through it. She felt like she was going to hurl at every stop light she had to brake for, but she worked through it. She pulled into a parking lot, about ready to vomit into a trash can at one point, but it had been a false alarm After that, she made it to Anna’s without incident.

For the second time in less than a week she was pounding her fist on Anna’s door. Anna was the one to answer it this time.

“Oh,” she said, an expression of confusion blotting out the smile she’d been wearing. “What are you doing here? I asked you to give me space.”

“I know, but did you do it?” Ruby demanded.

“Do what?”

“Did you get your father to recuse himself of sitting my father’s case?”

Anna’s eyes widened and she opened the door more so Ruby could storm in. The place was a mess, but neither of them were going to comment on it.

“I didn’t know whether or not…” Anna trailed off. Ruby’s eyebrows rose, begging for Anna to continue. Anna looked up, and made herself look less far away. “I asked him to before I went to your house that day, yes. I had no idea whether or not he would listen to me. He told me not to get my hopes up. Not in so many words, but he said that. And he never said anything else about it.”

It was clear that Anna was basically talking to herself for the last half of what she had to say. Ruby felt her awe and respect of Anna grow with every word. She wanted to kiss her so badly.

Instead what she did was put her hands on Anna’s shoulders and look her deep in the eye. “You are absolutely amazing.”

Anna blushed.

“I cannot thank you enough,” Ruby went on. ‘I know what it probably did to your sense of justice, but it means so much to me. Nothing has ever meant more, I don’t think.”

The sincerity in Ruby’s voice was palpable and Anna knew her heart was thawing from what it had been.

“I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Anna explained. She couldn’t look at Ruby as she added. “especially not you.”

Ruby surged forward and kissed Anna on the lips, all her pent up emotions pouring out of the momentary kiss.

”Forget I did that,” she said as soon as she pulled away. “In fact, can we forget anything else that’s happened between us?”

Anna raised an eyebrow in a question.

“Can we just start over? Can we pretend that I can fall in love with you all over again?”

Anna wouldn’t have been able to stop the smile she felt take over her face and she nodded.

“I think I’d like that, yes. Plus, I’m not sure I’ve ever really gotten to be the same Anna Milton twice.”

Ruby grinned back at her. “Well, Anna Milton,” she said, holding a hand out and committing to the illusion. Anna shook Ruby’s hand and never looked away from her eyes. “My name is Ruby Morgenstern, and I’m very glad to meet you. And I think this is going to be the start of a great friendship.”

Anna didn’t correct her quote, or her assumption, able to convince herself that even if this weren’t new, it could be better this time. She hadn’t ever trusted another feeling quite so much.


	11. Epilogue

The view from Ruby’s main window was spectacular at this time of year; having paid premium for the apartment would do that. But somehow she found it even better now, with the fact that Anna stood in front of it in a sundress that it was still too cold for.

“I just want to dress like it’s really spring, you know? I mean, look at how beautiful it looks out there.”

“Yeah, well, it is spring. But it’s still too cold for that.”

Anna turned and stuck her tongue out at Ruby over her shoulder. Ruby couldn’t help but grin at her back.

The two of them had been doing well with just being friends. At least outwardly. If sometimes after a night out they fell asleep curled around each other, neither one of them was going to make a fuss about it. They weren’t making a fuss about how much time they’d been spending together either.

“Are we doing anything this weekend?” Anna asked after another moment of basking in the sunlight streaming in. She finally turned around and came to sit on the couch next to Ruby, almost but not quite touching. “Do you have to go in to work?”

Ruby shook her head. “Now that my father’s letting me just work on the legitimate side of the law, my hours are way down. So are the number of headaches I get from stupid club music.”

“I like the club music.”

“You would.”

The two of them grinned at each other. It took a moment for Anna to realize how they looked and she dropped her eyes demurely. She pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Anyway, I was thinking we could do something crazy this weekend.”

“You mean crazier than trying to start a conga line at the salad bar in the caf’?”

“Yes. And I stand by that idea, by the way.” Ruby couldn’t help but huff out a laugh that she tried to cover up. Anna still heard what it was. “How do you feel about skydiving?”

“Haven’t you been skydiving before? Aren’t you all about trying new crazy things? You’ve had that experience before.”

Anna looked a little embarrassed, color rising on her cheeks. She didn’t meet Ruby’s eyes for a minute. Finally she took a deep breath and looked up.

“I’ve never experienced it with you, though.”  She bit her lip and then went on, “I mean, I went with people who were practically strangers not…you know.”

Then it was Ruby’s turn to blush and look away.

“And that will make it all different,” Anna said.

Ruby still didn’t look up, but she let her hand creep closer to Anna’s on the couch until they were touching. When Ruby looked up, it was because Anna had weaved their fingers together.

“Anna, I really want to kiss you right now.” Anna rushed to make that happen when Ruby held up a hand to stop her. “But there’s no way I’m jumping out of an airplane.” 

Anna started to laugh. She was still laughing when she leaned forward and kissed Ruby, finally, after months of trying to pretend she didn’t want to. It was quick, but deep and full of emotions. When they separated, they were both smiling.

“You sure about skydiving?”

“Shut up and kiss me again, Milton.”

That was an experience both Anna and Ruby wanted to have over and over again.


End file.
